An Anchorage man who plead guilty to choking and sexually assaulting a woman left court a free man on Wednesday and received no jail time.
Justin Schneider, 34, was indicted on four felony charges including assault, kidnapping, one misdemeanor count of Harassment I after violently assaulting a woman on August 15, 2017.
“I would like the gentleman to be on notice that that is his one pass — it’s not really a pass — but given the conduct, one might consider that it is,” Assistant District Attorney Andrew Grannik told KTVA.
In August, Schneider drove to a Holiday gas station in Anchorage, Alaska and identified himself as “Dan” to the victim. He then offered to give her a ride to her boyfriend’s house which she accepted according to a criminal complaint written by APD Detective Brett Sarber. The victim said she’d never met the suspect before, but Schneider claimed he knew the victim.
The suspect then drove the woman to an isolated area, attacked her, threatened to kill her if she screamed and strangled her unconscious.
“She said she could not fight him off, he was too heavy and had her down being choked to death,” the complaint read. The victim thought she was “going to die.”
After awakening, the woman found Schneider zipping up his pants after masturbating on her. Schneider allowed the victim to retrieve her items. The woman then dialed the police as the suspect drove away and informed authorities that “The man told her that he wasn’t really going to kill her, that he needed her to believe she was going to die so that he could be sexually fulfilled.”
Schneider pleaded guilty to a single felony charge of assault in exchange for serving two years in prison with one of the years suspended. The other year was counted as time served for wearing an ankle monitor while being at home with his wife and kids…….
The suspect seemingly showed no remorse for the victim nor did he apologize for his actions when given a chance to speak. Instead, he focused on his own win.
“I would just like to emphasize how grateful I am for this process,” said Schneider. “It has given me a year to really work on myself and become a better person, and a better husband, and a better father, and I’m very eager to continue that journey.”
The victim could not be reached during the trial.
Schneider will not be charged as a sex offender because the case did not meet the legal requirements as a sexual assault, according to the D.A.
Grannik said he struck the deal with the suspect because of Schneider’s progress in a treatment program and said he hopes “it doesn’t happen again.” He added that Schneider losing his job as an airport controller was a “life sentence.”
Schneider will spend the next three years on probation.