PORT TOWNSEND — Eight men accused of child sex crimes have pleaded not guilty in Jefferson County Superior Court to charges in connection with last weekend’s Net Nanny sting operation led by State Patrol.
Defendants appeared before Superior Court Judge Keith Harper for their arraignments on Friday.
Another man who was arrested in the sting — Thomas E. Gale, 53, of Port Townsend — was found dead at his home Friday morning in an apparent suicide, according to the Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office. An investigation is ongoing.
The eight who pleaded not guilty in Jefferson County court on Friday are:
• Michael E. Punt, 56, of Bremerton, charged with one count of first-degree attempted rape of a child and one count of second-degree rape of a child.
He posted $50,000 bail and was released. He cannot have contact with anyone under the age of 18 or have access to the internet. His next hearing date will be at 8:30 a.m. May 25. A pretrial hearing is set for 8:30 a.m. June 15. His trial is set for June 25-28.
• Andrew M. Worley, 34, of Sequim, charged with two counts of second-degree attempted rape of a child and two counts of attempted commercial sexual abuse of a minor and one count of communication with a minor for immoral purposes.
His bail was reduced to $30,000 from the initial $50,000 and he bailed out. His travel is restricted, and he is to have no communication with anyone under the age of 18 and no access to the internet. His next hearing date is at 8:30 a.m. April 20. A pretrial hearing will be at 8:30 a.m. May 4. His trial is set for May 14-18.
• David L. Sprague, 34, of Sequim, charged with one count of first-degree attempted rape of a child and one count of second-degree attempted rape of a child.
His bail was reduced to $30,000 from the initial $50,000 and he bailed out. He cannot have unsupervised visits with his children. His next hearing date is at 8:30 a.m. April 20. A pretrial hearing will be at 8:30 a.m. May 11. His trial is set for May 21-23.
• Richard J. Bertolacci, 77, of Bremerton, charged with one count of first-degree attempted rape of a child and one count of second-degree attempted rape of a child.
He posted $50,000 bail and was released. He is not allowed to travel out of state and he can have no access to the internet. He cannot have contact with his grandchildren unless the other parents or grandparents have been advised of the nature of the current charges. His next hearing is at 8:30 a.m. May 25. A pre-trial hearing is at 8:30 a.m. June 15 at 8:30 a.m. His trial is set for June 25-28.
• Isaac J. Boyd, 21, of Sequim, charged with one count of second-degree attempted rape of a child and one count of communication with a minor for immoral purposes — a first offense with no prior felony sex offenses, court records said.
He posted $50,000 bail and was released. He may use the internet only for school studies and must install Nanny Net or other such device on all his computer devices. His next hearing is at 8:30 a.m. May 25. A pre-trial hearing is at 8:30 a.m June 15. His trial is set for June 25-28.
• Timothy J. Rondeau, Jr., 31, of Quilcene, charged with one count of second-degree attempted rape of a child and one count of communication with a minor for immoral purposes.
His bail was reduced to $30,000 from the initial $50,000 and he was released. He may have only supervised visits with his own minor children and parents and grandparents have to be advised of the current charges. He is not allowed to travel out of state and can have no access to the internet. His next hearing is at 8:30 a.m. April 13. A pre-trial hearing is set for 8:30 a.m. May 11. Trial date has been set for May 14-16.
• Michael Schluetz, 65, of Hoodsport, charged with two counts of second-degree attempted rape of a child, two counts of attempted distribution of a controlled substance, and one count of communication with a minor for immoral purposes.
He posted a $50,000 bail and was released. He may have only supervised visits with his minor grandchildren and parents and grandparents have to be advised of the current charges. He must install Nanny Net on his computer and his internet searches will be monitored for this case. He is allowed to use the internet for work, money management and medical care. His next hearing is at 8:30 a.m. May 25. A pretrial hearing is set for 8:30 a.m. June 15. His trial is set for June 25-28.
• Ming Fai Lee, 20, of Auburn, charged with two counts of second-degree attempted rape of a child, two counts of attempted commercial sexual abuse of a minor and one count of communication with a minor for immoral purposes.
His bail was reduced t0 $30,000 from the initial $50,000 and he was released. He was required to surrender his passport. He can use a college computer for educational purposes only when supervised by Net Nanny or other monitoring system. His next hearing date is at 8:30 a.m. May 25. A pretrial hearing is set for 8:30 a.m. June 15. Trial is set for June 25-28.
One person arrested during the sting was placed in custody in Clallam County.
Clinton R. Caldwell, 67, of Sequim was in the Clallam County jail on $100,000 bail Friday on charges of first- and second-degree attempted rape of a child. He was not listed on the jail roster on Saturday.
His arraignment will be 9 a.m. this coming Friday, April 6, in Clallam County Superior Court.
Caldwell also has been charged in a separate incident with unlawful carrying of a weapon capable of causing bodily harm, a gross misdemeanor.
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Jefferson County Editor/Reporter Jeannie McMacken can be reached at 360-385-2335 or at jmcmacken@peninsuladailynews.com.
