MINNEAPOLIS -- Just before he was scheduled to get out of prison, a former Minneapolis police officer serving time for sexually assaulting adolescent girls he met online learned he’ll be spending a few more years locked up.
Bradley Schnickel, 34, reportedly looked back at his wife with tears in his eyes after Anoka County District Judge James Cunningham resentenced him to 102 months in prison at a hearing Thursday, according to a spokesman with the Anoka County attorney’s office.
He was originally sentenced last spring to 30 months plus credit for time already served, leaving him eligible for supervised release in June.
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That release plan was dashed when the Minnesota Court of Appeals earlier this month ruled that the sentence - a significant downward departure from state sentencing guidelines - was not supported by the law.
The case was sent back to Cunningham on Thursday for resentencing.
Schnickel pleaded guilty in February 2014 to second-degree criminal sexual conduct, third-degree criminal sexual conduct, attempted third-degree criminal sexual conduct and two counts of electronic solicitation of a minor.
The father of two used an alias to troll social media sites for girls. After establishing contact, he began sexually-charged conversations with the girls online, often sending them pictures of his genitalia. In two cases, he persuaded the teens to have sex with him.
He was employed as a police officer in Minneapolis at the time. The Minneapolis Police Department fired him shortly after his February 2013 arrest.
When sentencing him last spring, Cunningham said the remorse Schnickel displayed for his actions and his amenability to sex-offender treatment warranted the lower sentence, according to court documents.
The appellate court disagreed, finding, among other factors, that “offender-related factors” do not justify a lighter sentence.
Schnickel’s defense attorney, Fred Bruno, could not be immediately reached for comment Thursday.
