Former Oneida pastor sentenced to 16 years in prison, 16 years supervision for child pornography

APPLETON – The former pastor of an Oneida church was sentenced Monday to 16 years in prison, followed by 16 years of extended supervision, for possessing child pornography.

Rick Haberland, 49, was sentenced to eight years imprisonment for four charges of child pornography possession — each separated into four years in prison, followed by four years of extended supervision, to be served consecutively. He was also sentenced to an additional 100 days in prison for meth possession. He had pleaded no contest to the charges in August.

In total, Haberland will be monitored for the next 32 years.

At the hearing, Judge Vincent Biskupic acknowledged the sentence is more than double what the state Department of Corrections requested, and more than what the prosecution recommended, but said a lengthier sentence is necessary due to "the outrageous graphic nature of these images" in addition to Haberland's failure to accept full responsibility.

The DOC recommended a total of six years in prison and four to six years of extended supervision. Tempelis recommended a total of 10 to 12 years in prison and eight to 10 years of extended supervision.

Haberland was arrested in February after an investigation that came as a response to a Cypertipline report from the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children.

On Feb. 23, police executed search warrants at Oneida United Methodist Church, where Haberland was a pastor, and Haberland's nearby residence, during which they seized his phone.

A digital forensic examiner estimated Haberland's phone had more than 150 videos depicting sexual abuse of children, in addition to written statements about sexual abuse of infant to 12-year-old boys, according to a criminal complaint.

Investigators also found 1.2 grams of meth in Haberland's bedroom closet, the complaint said.

Outagamie County District Attorney Melinda Tempelis said the pre-sentence investigation found Haberland had shared "megalinks" with others, which contained more than 1,000 videos depicting sexual violence against children.

Tempelis said Sgt. Michael Fitzpatrick, who has conducted investigations into crimes against children at Outagamie County Sherriff's Office for years, told her the investigation in Haberland's case "stood out well beyond anything he has had to view or to watch in all of his career."

In the presentence investigation report, Haberland initially claimed to investigators that he accidentally downloaded child pornography by clicking a link, which he quickly closed out with, claiming he is "not technologically savvy," Tempelis said at the hearing.

Haberland also initially told investigators he had experienced incest as a child, which was not true, Tempelis and defense attorney Kevin Musolf acknowledged.

While Haberland made multiple statements to others online claiming he participated in sexual violence with children, investigators didn't find any evidence those actually occurred. Musolf said Haberland's involvement "was a role playing-type situation that he got into that completely spiraled out of control."

"My apologies to the court, to the DA, to the investigator who had to watch. There are not any victims that I have been with, nor would I. It was all fantasy, and I realize that's no excuse," Haberland said at the sentencing hearing. "... I fully understand that I will be under supervision for the rest of my life, and should be."

In June 2021, New Hope United Methodist Church in De Pere, where Haberland used to work, burned down. Between the destruction of his church, going through a recent divorce and his mother being on life support, Haberland was going through a difficult time when he fell into an online community of sharing child pornography, Musolf said.

"I'm not dismissive of that hardship and difficult time in your life, but people react to that in different ways. ... They don't go commit felonies against children," Biskupic said.

In delivering Haberland's sentence, Biskupic said Haberland was in a position of authority, that many people — including children — relied on and trusted.

"You were supposed to be praying for them. Instead, you were preying on them," Biskupic told Haberland at the sentencing hearing.

Haberland was initially charged with 13 counts of possession of child pornography, but nine charges were dismissed. However, Biskupic said Haberland will be charged $500 on each of the initial 13 counts of child pornography, for a total of $6,500.

"I want to make crystal clear on the record, there's well beyond 13 images, but at some point, the court understands the logic, or the reality, that the defendant's not going to be in a position to pay those off if the court assessed them on hundreds of images," Biskupic said.

Conditions of Haberland's extended supervision will include that he can't access the internet or possess a device with access to the internet without prior approval from an agent, he can have no contact with anyone under age 18 without agent approval and he must comply with all requirements on the sex offender registry.

Biskupic also ordered a mental health assessment that will be followed by treatment.

In addition to Oneida United Methodist Church and New Hope United Methodist Church, Haberland was also previously a pastor at Suring and Hickory United Methodist Churches in Suring, Phillips United Methodist Church in Phillips and Tabor United Methodist Church in Eden.

Contact Kelli Arseneau at (920) 213-3721 or karseneau@gannett.com. Follow her on Twitter at @ArseneauKelli.

This article originally appeared on Appleton Post-Crescent: Ex-Oneida pastor sentenced to 16 years in prison for child pornography