New trial, same fate for man who assaulted his children

A former Saukville man who in 2021 was convicted by a jury of sexually assaulting his 11-year-old daughter and physically abusing his children, then sentenced to two decades in prison, won his fight for a new trial only to suffer the same fate. 

The 40-year-old man, who was convicted by a second jury in March, was sentenced last week to 20 years in prison followed by 20 years of extended supervision on two counts of first-degree sexual assault of a child.

Ozaukee County Circuit Judge Steve Cain, who described the man’s crimes as “monstrous” when he first sentenced him on May 4, 2021, also ordered him last week to serve an additional two years in prison followed by two years of extended supervision on two counts of child abuse.

  Ozaukee Press is not naming the man to protect the identities of his children.

The man was serving his initial prison sentence when, in response to a motion filed by his new attorney, Cain vacated his conviction and ordered a new trial last year because he was not adequately represented by his court-appointed trial lawyer.

During the man’s initial sentencing, his son, who was 13 when his father gave him a concussion during a fit of rage while drunk and high on marijuana, described him as a “horrible father” guilty of “unspeakable” acts who sought to convince his children they deserved to be abused.

“I hope you get what you deserve and more,” the teenager told his father, who sat emotionless in the courtroom.

The man’s daughter said she fell into depression because of his abuse and she “wanted to commit suicide every time I had to go to your house.”

She said she suffered from eating disorders and harmed herself by cutting.

“You took away that sense of beauty I saw in myself,” she said.

The children’s mother, who filed for divorce from their father in 2011, said her family is not trying to forget but rather deal with what happened and asked the judge to sentence their father to a substantial number of years in prison to “give her children time to heal” while at the same time acknowledging “there are no number of years that will take any of this away.”

The first sexual assault occurred on Saturday, June 30, 2018, and the physical assaults on Sunday, July 1, 2018, and a day after that the man’s daughter told authorities that she and her two brothers were at their father’s apartment when he was “really drunk” and high on marijuana, which he frequently smoked in front of them, according to a criminal complaint.

She said she was in her bedroom when she heard yelling, went to the kitchen and saw her father pinning her 13-year-old brother against the wall. She said her father slapped him in the face, punched him in the stomach and slapped both his ears at the same time.

The girl said that when she tried to intervene, her father swore at her and ordered her to her room, then followed her there and slapped and punched her.

Her brother, who said his father head-butted him, had symptoms of a mild concussion when examined by medical professionals.

About seven months later, the girl reported the sexual assault when she told authorities that while at his apartment on June 30, 2018, her father came into her bedroom wearing only boxer shorts, laid his head on her chest and touched her inappropriately, the complaint states.

She said she was able to push him away, but then he tried to take her pants off and fondled her again.

The next day, while in the car with her father, the girl said he told her she should not say anything or he would “come back for her and bad things will happen to her,” according to the criminal complaint. The girl said she was very scared and crying.

Cain, in an effort to assess the man’s character during his 2021 sentencing, noted he continually tried to shift blame to his children and suggested that his daughter’s allegations of sexual assault were part of a Me Too movement-inspired effort to “stick it to him.”

“They were infinitely credible,” Cain said of the children. “They were clear and concise in their testimony.”

The man’s first attorney, Brodie Campion, didn’t address his client’s crimes but rather said the man suffered a head injury prior to trial that made it difficult for the two of them to communicate and may have exacerbated mental health issues the man has.

Campion said the man hopes to reconcile with his children one day.

“It’s clear to me (he) loves his children,” Campion said.

In her motion to vacate the man’s conviction, the man’s new attorney, Becky Van Dam, argued that even before his initial trial there were signs the man would not be adequately represented and highlighted the closing argument Campion made during the trial, which she said indicated that while he didn’t want the case to go to trial, his client did.

According to the trial transcript quoted in Van Dam’s motion, Campion told the jury, “And I’m about to admit something I don’t think any attorney’s ever admitted to a client or a jury before, but this is my first trial. So sorry for telling you now, but we’re going to go through with this.

“The defense has no evidence. The state has a ton of evidence.”

Referring to the then-Assistant District Attorney Jeff Sisley, who prosecuted the case, Campion told the jury, “Attorney Sisley’s been practicing law since I was in kindergarten. This is my first trial. Attorney Sisley and (his client) can both attest to how much I want both sides to resolve this ....”

After vacating the initial conviction of the man, who most recently listed an address in Iron Ridge, he was released from Dodge Correctional Institute in Waupun, where he was serving his sentence, and was free in lieu of $25,000 bail until his second conviction. Cain ordered him remanded into custody.

Cain ordered the man, who is a registered sex offender by virtue of his conviction, not to have contact with anyone younger than 18 without the approval of the Department of Corrections while on extended supervision.

He must also have DOC approval before using a computer, accessing the internet and pursuing a dating, romantic or sexual relationship.