Former Soda Springs coach pleads guilty to rape, sentencing scheduled
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SODA SPRINGS — A former Soda Spring High School basketball coach appeared in court Friday morning to plead guilty to two counts of rape.
Wade Lee Schvaneveldt, 52, pleaded guilty after reaching a plea agreement with the Caribou County Prosecutor’s Office.
Schvaneveldt’s sentencing hearing has been scheduled for June 23 before District Judge Mitchell Brown.
Schvaneveldt was arrested and charged with 20 counts of rape in Caribou County in September. According to testimony from a victim at a November preliminary hearing, he and the then-underage girl were involved in a sexual relationship for multiple years.
Their relationship, the victim said, started at a basketball tournament in Boise. The girl, a player on the high school, had sex with Schvaneveldt, the coach, in the hotel room.
Over the course of their relationship, the victim and Schvaneveldt had sex at school and at Schvaneveldt’s home, when his family was gone.
Per the plea deal, Schvaneveldt entered a guilty plea to two counts of rape Friday. In exchange, the other 18 been dismissed.
The plea deal does not include any arrangement regarding a sentence other than to say that the defense and prosecution would be free to argue at a sentencing hearing. Each rape charge carries a potential life sentence.
Because the sexual relationship between Schvaneveldt and his victim began in Boise, Schvaneveldt was recently charged with two counts of rape out of Ada County.
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Schvaneveldt is scheduled to be arraigned at the Ada County Courthouse on April 18. Following the arraignment hearing, he will be scheduled for a preliminary hearing, at which it will be determined if the First District Court will pursue charges there.