Kroll remembered learning how he taught her to hear two- and four-count beats. It wasn’t with a tap on a desk or a knee, it was with an intimate squeeze of her hand.
“This man, Albert Lee Schildknecht, violated me over and over again...he violated my mind and my spirit,” Kroll said. “This supposed love, mentorship and companionship came at a price.”
For Kroll, that price was years of resentment, intimacy issues and problems with her self-image.
Even after she left for college in Boston, to “get as far away from him as possible,” it took years to completely lose contact with her abuser, she said.
Then two years ago, at the urging of those closest to her, she went to police with her past.
Friday, Schildknecht faced sentencing as part of a plea agreement to two felony counts of oral copulation with a minor and digital penetration of a minor.
Schildknecht, 58, could have faced more charges had Kroll come forward years earlier, but the statute of limitations on the crime limited prosecutors’ case.
Schildknecht was sentenced to five years’ formal probation and must register as a sex offender, a black mark on the churchgoing man’s reputation, prosecutors said. He is not allowed to have contact with minors unless under the supervision of another adult and with the consent of his probation officer.
Schildknecht will not serve jail time. Prosecutors fought for Schildknecht to be put behind bars, but the plea deal was an agreement extended by the court.
“The problem with these charges are they’re discretionary,” said deputy Dist. Atty. Jennifer Walker. “All we can do is make our argument.”
Schildknecht chose registering as a sex offender and the probation over a year behind bars and not registering, Walker said.
