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NILES — Two area men were sentenced to jail and probation Monday in Berrien County Trial Court for sex-related crimes.

Gregory Vaughn Schanick, 32, of Buchanan, pleaded guilty to possession of sexually abusive materials and was sentenced to 45 days in jail, five years probation, registering as a sex offender and $658 in fines and costs. He can have no contact with anyone age 17 or younger, cannot be within 500 feet of a school or 1,000 feet of a park.

The incident occurred Oct. 11, 2023 in Buchanan when explicit pictures and videos of children were found on his phone.

Attorney Peter Johnson noted that this is Schanick’s first criminal offense. Schanick said he didn’t intentionally look for the pictures found on his phone and didn’t know he had them.

“I’m not sure if I believe that,” Judge Smith said. “You had 100 images and videos on your phone. I don’t know why you uploaded material if you didn’t know what it was. I don’t think you just happened to find them on your phone.”

“The first step is admit what you did,” she added. “You told police what they would find and that the images were in a hidden folder. You have to stop lying to yourself, denying does you no good. The law takes this seriously, these images are created because the market is there.”

Thaddeus David Schultz, 40, of Michigan City, Ind., pleaded guilty to accosting a child for immoral purposes and was sentenced to five years probation, 45 days in jail with credit for one day served, registering as a sex offender and $658 in fines and costs.

The incident occurred March 3 in Niles. He had set up a meeting with an underage child who turned out to be a police decoy.

Schultz apologized to the court and to the Niles community. “I take full responsibility for my actions,” he said. “My mind was not in a good place, I’ve been trying to put my mind back in the right place. I want to get behind this and be a law abiding person. I truly have learned my lesson.”

“I want to make sure you understand why there is this law,” Judge Smith said. “I’m not sure what your intentions were, I don’t think that you just wanted to hang out and talk. Your communication with the decoy was of a sexual nature. The first part of your rehabilitation is to acknowledge what you planned to do that day.”

In another case, Jeremy Ray Hossa, 49, of Niles, pleaded guilty to two counts of possession of methamphetamines and one count of possession of a firearm by a felon and was sentenced to three concurrent terms of 90 days in jail with credit for two days served, firearms forfeited and $394 in fines and costs.

The incident occurred May 18, 2021 in Niles. Hossa previously served a federal sentence for drug possession in 2011 and has not had any other charges since 2021. Hossa said he was unaware that warrants were out for his arrest.

     In other sentences:

• Maurice Bernard Anderson, 19, of Niles, pleaded guilty to attempted resisting and obstructing police and assault and battery and was sentenced to 60 days in jail with credit for 42 days served and $175 in fines and costs. The incident occurred Dec. 31, 2023 in Niles when he assault a hospital security officer and a police officer. He also pleaded guilty to violating his probation from an earlier home invasion conviction and had his probation revoked and was sentenced to credit for 352 days already served.
• Desiree Therese Danger, 44, of St. Joseph, pleaded guilty to attempted identity theft and was sentenced to $882.82 in fines, costs and restitution and 40 hours of community service. The incident occurred May 17, 2021 in Niles Township and involved stealing from her sister.
• Duncan Shane Harrison, 33, of Buchanan, pleaded guilty to fourth degree fleeing police and was sentenced to credit for 13 days served and $658 in fines and costs. The incident occurred March 9 in Niles Township.