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Child Rape

1204: Wade Schvaneveldt

Cajsa LilliehookLeave a comment
Wade Lee Schvaneveldt

Wade Lee Schvaneveldt was a teacher and basketball coach at Soda Points School District #150. He was charged with 20 felony charges after a student he groomed and raped went to the police. He requested a change of venue and his wife testified how the allegations came out at a school board meeting before his arrest. That request was denied.

According to the Idaho State Journal, he pleaded guilty to two charges of “to raping one of his students between 2014 and 2015. The charge was raping someone 16 or 17 and being more than 3 years older.” In the plea deal, eighteen other charges were dismissed. The survivor was one of his high school students and played on his basketball team. He was sentenced to eighteen years and must serve at least eight before parole is possible.

After he was sentenced, he was charged again for raping a different student in a different county. He pled guilty again, this time to one of three charges.

Screenshot of voter registration info: Wade L Schvanefeldt Grace ID 83241 Party Affiliation: Republican Party Registered to vote in Caribou County
Former girls basketball coach facing 20 rape - Idaho State Journal (Pocatello, ID) - January 13, 2023 - page 02 January 13, 2023 | Idaho State Journal (Pocatello, ID) | SHELBIE HARRIS sharris@journalnet.com | Page 02 SODA SPRINGS — The former Soda Springs High School girls basketball coach facing 20 counts of rape has requested that his trial be moved to a new jurisdiction outside of Caribou County, court records show. Wade L. Schvaneveldt, 52, of Soda Springs, was arrested on Sept. 2 and charged with 20 counts of rape where the victim was 16 or 17 years old and the perpetrator was three or more years older. Court records identify the sole victim as being born in 1997. Schvaneveldt’s Idaho Falls attorney Allen H. Browning on Dec. 22 filed a motion to continue the trial set to begin next month and asked the 6th District judge handling the case, Mitchell W. Brown, to move the trial to a jurisdiction outside of Caribou County. Browning argued Schvaneveldt can not receive a fair and impartial jury trial in Caribou County due to the significant amount of pre-trial publicity the case has received. Additionally, Schvaneveldt’s wife, Kirsten Schvaneveldt, submitted an affidavit in support of that motion on Jan. 6 that parrots the same argument Browning cited in his motion and memorandum of support. Browning’s motion for a change of venue also suggests Wade Schvaneveldt intends to use an expert witness to bolster his defense. The motion states Wade has hired William O’Donohue as an expert witness. The primary reason for requesting a change of venue, according to Browning’s motion, is the belief that the pretrial publicity this case has received from the region's media would prejudice Wade if the case were tried in Soda Springs. “The case has received extensive publicity from Idaho Falls to Preston, including TV coverage, internet coverage and other sources, which have aroused the local population to judge and punish the defendant before he has a trial,” Browning wrote. Browning provided the court with an Idaho State Journal article and several reader’s comments posted to the Journal’s Facebook page as evidence that the case has received extensive local coverage. The affidavit from Wade’s wife Kirsten states she first learned about the allegations against her husband during a Soda Springs school board meeting nearly three months before he was arrested. The board meeting was held on June 8, a day after the Soda Springs School District held an emergency meeting that involved board members entering into executive session to discuss emails and texts received from district patrons. The board then conferred with the school district's lawyers during the executive session. At the end of the June 7 meeting, Wade was placed on administrative leave. During the June 8 meeting, Kirsten, who was also an employee of Soda Springs High School at the time, was one of 15 to 20 people who advocated that Wade be allowed to keep his job as the coach of the girls basketball team, according to her affidavit. The last district patron who addressed the school board at the June 8 meeting was not in favor of Wade retaining his position, Kirsten wrote, stating that this individual accused Wade of engaging in an inappropriate relationship with one of her friends and that “it was time for coach Wade to go.” Both Kirsten in her affidavit and Browning in his motion allege the June 8 school board meeting was livestreamed over the school district’s Facebook page and received over 2,000 views by mid-July. “I attempted to retrieve a copy of that video, but the school has taken it down and attempts to retrieve it have been fruitless,” Kirsten wrote in her affidavit. Lastly, Kirsten’s affidavit in support of the change of venue motion includes over two dozen letters from Caribou County residents, most of whom stated the case has been one of several consistent topics of discussion in the county to the extent that Wade would not receive a fair trial there. Browning on Jan. 6 filed an amended motion asking to reschedule the trial, arguing that Caribou County prosecutors had just recently provided him with 500 pages of evidence and he has not yet had a chance to provide that material to O’Donohue to review. Browning and county prosecutors are expected to provide oral arguments on the motions during a hearing on Friday. Wade’s bond was reduced from $350,000 to $50,000 a week after he was arrested. He posted the bond the same day it was reduced and was released from jail. He was the Soda Springs High School girls basketball coach until this past summer when the Soda Springs School District did not renew his contract. He coached the team for 20 years and won four 2A state championships during his tenure. Each one of the 20 counts of rape filed against Schvaneveldt carries a penalty of no less than one year and up to life in prison and a fine of up to $50,000. For now, his jury trial is slated to begin on Feb. 13 at the Caribou County Courthouse in Soda Springs. Copyright 2023, Idaho State Journal (Pocatello, ID), All Rights Reserved.
January 13, 2023 | Idaho State Journal (Pocatello, ID)
Author/Byline: SHELBIE HARRIS 

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