I was intrigued by the issues raised by this story about a young man who at the age of fifteen falls in love with a mature man whom he Initially had started to chat with on the internet as a way to explore and understand his homosexuality.
Michael Schnyer began his relationship with Dean Juenke in chat room and over time a rapport was struck and they began to get closer, chatting over months Michael began to realise that he was falling in love. A few months into the relationship Michael innocently or naively(depending on how you view the situation) recorded several sexually explicit video’s of himself and sent them to Dean, at the time he would have no realisation that these private videos would later lead to Dean’s imprisonment.
Michael’s parent’s began to get suspicious about the amount of the amount of time that their son was spending on the internet and decided to investigate further by looking on their son’s computer which revealed to their horror his secret. Not knowing what to do they contacted the FBI who began investigating Michael and Dean’s relationship and then they discovered the explicit video’s of Michael on Dean’s computer.
The conclusion of the investigation was that Dean was charged with criminal possession of material involving sexual exploitation of minors and although Michael and Dean later married and Michael’s parents became more accepting of their relationship,Dean pleaded guilty and is now serving two and a half years in federal prison.
Whether you agree or disagree with the situation and judging by most of the comments on The Feast of Fools website posted soon after the show was aired people are sceptical regarding Dean’s intentions at the beginning of the relationship as to whether they were entirely “innocent!”. There is no doubt that there was an emotional and intellectual divide during the fragile beginnings (Michael’s initial nativity )which may or may not have been exploited by Dean!.
SOME OF THE COMMENTS POSTED ON THE FEAST OF FOOLS WEBSITE
Dean was wrong to pursue any sort of relationship with a 15 year old. Period. Whether we believe the law is stupid, or that it goes too far… it is the law, and it should be obeyed. Had they stopped what they were doing when it came out that Michael was 15 (and Michael is just as much at fault there), none of this would have happened.
But that’s not what happened, and now Dean is paying the price. It’s unfortunate, but that’s how it goes.
Michael, I wish you and Dean the best of luck, but it’s hard for me to take pity on your situation.
It seems that Michael found what he desperately lacked – someone to listen to and give him attention (he had no gay peers his age and his family was not close). But Dean knew or should have known that adults are not allowed to have such relations, as what occurred here over the internet and phone, with minors. That’s why, unsurprisingly, Dean is in prison. I have no sympathy for the situation they are in.
LISTEN TO THE MICHAEL FEAST OF FOOLS PODCAST INTERVIEW
WATCH MICHAEL’S YOUTUBE VIDEO’S
technically theyre both to blame, but michael was 15 yo. i cant speak as to michaels maturity at that age, but when i was 15 my friends and i did a lot of stupid things. teenagers do stupid stuff, but a 35 yo man like dean shouldve known better. and when michael sent him those videos, dean shouldve deleted them and asked michael to never send anything like that again. michael was under age, therefore those videos were child pornography. no one should be in possession of such material. im not a prude by any means, but child pornography should not be tolerated under any circumstance. bottom line, 35 yo man shouldve known better. btw, ask yourselves, what kind of a 35 yo would start such a relationship with a 15 yo. but my heart goes out to michael, he does realize that hes the victim of this man, michael is 18 now, he should be in college spending time with his peers and dating boys his age, not petitioning to get a sexual predator out of prison. thats my rant
By: Luke on May 21, 2009
at 4:46 am
Thank you for reading and commenting on my blog post, this is greatly appreciated and I agree wholeheartedly with your views on the subject.
You seem to have a some sort of personal tie to Michael as your comment suggest this ” but my heart goes out to michael, he does realize that hes the victim of this man, michael is 18 now, he should be in college spending time with his peers and dating boys his age, not petitioning to get a sexual predator out of prison.
After listening to him on FOF podcast he seems a very articulate and intelligent young man and I also send him my good wishes and hope the future will bring him happiness .
Thank you once again Luke for your input and I hope that you will return again to read my blog!
Tim
By: homolicker on May 21, 2009
at 7:39 pm
oops, i made a mistake. i typed “he does realize that hes the victim of this man”. i meant to say is that “he does not realize”. it was a simple typo. i apologise for giving the wrong impression.
By: Luke on May 21, 2009
at 8:44 pm
That’s ok we all make them but thanks for clearing it up!
By: homolicker on May 21, 2009
at 10:21 pm