Willmar man sentenced to 42 months for violating court order of protection

Dale Morin, West Central Tribune, Willmar, Minn.
·4 min read
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Aug. 11—WILLMAR

— A Willmar man was sentenced to a total of 42 months in prison in the resolution to three separate criminal cases alleging violation of an order for protection and domestic assault.

Matthew Alan Schorn, 33, was sentenced to 30 months for one count of felony domestic abuse — violating two or more orders of protection within 10 years of a previous conviction. That case was filed in October 2021.

He pleaded guilty to the charge on March 30 of this year when he also pleaded guilty to an identical charge in a separate case filed in December 2021. He was sentenced to 12 months and one day of prison.

In exchange for his plea, the state agreed to dismiss the remaining counts in the two cases and all charges in a third criminal case filed in May 2022 — two counts of felony domestic abuse, one count of fleeing a police officer, and one count of domestic assault were dismissed. The state also agreed to dismiss Blakely factors — referring to the Supreme Court decision in

Blakely v. Washington

, which addresses the application of aggravating factors to enhance a sentence.

Schorn also agreed to the two sentences being consecutive, totaling to 42 months of prison, per the plea agreement. He received credit for 313 days already served at the time of his June 6 sentencing before Judge Jennifer Fischer in Kandiyohi County District Court.

Under Minnesota law, offenders are required to serve at least two-thirds of a sentence in custody and may be allowed to serve the remaining time on supervised release.

Schorn is currently incarcerated at the Minnesota Correctional Facility in St. Cloud. According to the Minnesota Department of Corrections, Schorn's expected release date Is Nov. 27, 2024.

According to court documents, a Willmar police officer was called to a residence in the 1400 block of Lakeland Drive Northeast in Willmar on Oct. 8, 2021, for a report that Schorn was breaking items.

The criminal complaint states the officer noted there was an order of protection in place between Schorn and an adult female who lived at the residence. There was also a report the previous day of Schorn violating the court order.

Upon arrival at the address, the woman stated she did not know where Schorn was, but said he had left 30 minutes prior to the officer's arrival. The officer talked with a neighbor, who had called the police. The neighbor said he saw Schorn on his surveillance video footage running from the woman's residence.

Schorn was later arrested after being found in a field near the home. He was transported to the Kandiyohi County Jail and agreed to speak with officers.

According to the complaint, Schorn said he was at the woman's residence the previous day taking groceries into the home when she asked him to leave. Schorn said he stayed around the residence and returned after being asked by a family member of the woman.

The second incident was reported on Dec. 1, 2021. Officers were dispatched to the woman's residence after she reported that Schorn was there and breaking items.

According to the filed criminal complaint, Schorn arrived at the residence in his vehicle and used a key to get inside. Schorn then went into her bedroom, pulled an item off the vanity and threw it on the floor. Shortly after, Schorn left the residence, breaking a door frame and hinge on his way out.

An officer parked near the residence to see if Schorn would return.

Later, the officer noticed a male approaching the residence and believed the male to be Schorn based on prior contacts with him. The officer heard the back door to the woman's residence slam and saw Schorn running from the residence. The officer ordered Schorn to stop and identified himself as police, but Schorn continued running on foot before he was intercepted by Task Force agents and arrested.

The officer spoke again with the woman, since he had contacted her earlier in the day. According to the complaint, Schorn had returned to the residence four separate times after police were initially dispatched.

A public criminal history report shows that Schorn has two previous convictions for violating a restraining order in 2020 and 2019 in Kandiyohi County.