COURT NEWS

By DEBRA HAIGHT
BCR Correspondent

NILES – This week’s court news includes action from both Berrien County Trial Court and Cass County Circuit Court.

In Berrien County Trial Court, a Niles man was sentenced to prison after exhibiting obscene behavior in front of two girls at the Niles District Library.

Roger Wayne Schaber, 67, of Cherry Street in Niles, pleaded guilty to exhibiting/distributing obscene material/behavior and was sentenced Monday

to two to three years in prison. He has credit for 62 days already served and must pay $198 in fines and costs. He also pleaded guilty to assault and battery and was given credit for time served and $50.

The incident occurred Dec. 4 at the Niles District Library in Niles. Schaber’s previous record include indecent exposure in 1993 and criminal sexual conduct in 2002.

One of the girls’ mother spoke before the sentencing. “She was at the library with a friend,” the woman said. “I never expected something like that to happen at the library, it disgusts me. My daughter has nightmares and she worries about going to the library.”

Assistant Prosecutor Jane Wainwright called Schaber’s behavior “absolutely disgusting.” “He goes to their table and sits down with them and fondles himself,” she said. “They get up and he follows them two times. He’s a danger to our children, this was at 3 p.m. in the afternoon. There’s only one place for him and that’s prison.”

Schaber said he was very sorry. “I wish I could erase what I did and go back and erase it so it would not happen,” he said. “I need some help.”

Berrien County Trial Judge Charles LaSata said he considered this crime to be especially egregious as it occurred in one of the places he considers “sacred”, where people should feel safe. Other places besides libraries he puts in that category are churches, schools, hospitals and courthouses.

“If something takes place there, I enhance the penalty,” he said.

The wife of the man convicted of killing a South Bend woman last year and burying her in a shallow grave in Minnesota was sentenced in Cass County Circuit Court for helping him elude police.

Brooke Marie Lynn, 28, of South Bend, pleaded guilty to harboring a fugitive and was sentenced to three years probation and one year in jail. Another charge of being an accessory after the fact to a felony was dismissed.

Lynn and her husband, Daniel, were arrested July 13, 2018 at a campground at Juno Lake near Edwardsburg. Daniel Lynn was sentenced to 16 years in prison after being convicted of second-degree murder in the death of Christina Woods of South Bend.

Woods went missing in early June, 2018 and Lynn admitted to killing Woods and burying her on his family’s property in Minnesota. News reports from last summer indicate that Woods and Brooke Lynn were close friends until Woods had an affair with Daniel Lynn.

, was sentenced after being found guilty by a jury in March of assault with intent to do great bodily harm less than murder and felonious assault. He was sentenced to concurrent terms of six to 20 years and three to eight years in prison.

He has credit for 192 days already served and must pay $1,616 in fines and costs.

The incident occurred Sept. 25 at a home in the 57000 block of Kirk Lake Road in Newberg Township near Vandalia. Johnson had an altercation with Michael McCloud and stabbed him a number of times. Police found the knife lodged at the base of the victim’s spine when they arrived.

Johnson was sentenced as a habitual offender as he has previous convictions for second-degree criminal sexual conduct and failing to register as a sex offender.

Johnson continues to claim he acted in self defense and plans to appeal his conviction. “I didn’t go in with the intent to kill him or do great bodily harm,” he said in court Friday. “I basically was trying to defend myself but I understand I was found guilty by my peers.”

“He could have killed someone, he plunged a knife in the man’s back and it broke off,” Cass County Prosecutor Victor Fitz said before sentencing. “He actually stabbed a man in the back. His motives were scurrilous at best … We need to send a message loud and clear that people who do this will be addressed sternly.”

“One thing that did concern the court was that if this was truly self defense, why didn’t you report it to police and say you were involved and someone was hurt,” Cass Circuit Judge Mark Herman said.