Man charged with assaulting girl for years at Fredonia home

A 36-year-old man was charged in Ozaukee County Circuit Court last week with sexually assaulting the daughter of his wife at their Town of Fredonia home for more than two years beginning in 2020 when she was 8 years old, sometimes after hitting her with a belt. 

The man, who was arrested at his place of employment in Port Washington on Dec. 16 and now lives in Hales Corners, faces felony counts of repeated sexual assault of a child, physical abuse of a child, strangulation and suffocation and possession of narcotic drugs, all felonies, as well as misdemeanor counts of possession of cocaine and possession of drug paraphernalia. 

The man, who Ozaukee Press is not naming to protect the identity of the child, is being held in the county jail in lieu of $150,000 bail.

According to a criminal complaint, the Ozaukee County Sheriff’s Office received  a report from a person required by law to report suspected child abuse regarding the man’s repeated sexual assaults of the girl, who was the daughter of his then-wife, from 2020 to 2023.

The girl said all of the assaults happened at the Town of Fredonia home, and the first one occurred in July 2020 when she was 8.

The girl said the man was extremely drunk and walking around the house naked. She said she didn’t want to see him without clothing on, so she went to her room. The man then burst into her room, told her to “come here,” hit her with a belt and sexually assaulted her, the complaint states.

The man told the girl that if she said anything about the assault he would hurt her, then kill her, her mother and her brother. When asked if the man said how he would kill them, she said he implied it would be with a gun because he owned several firearms, according to the complaint.

The girl detailed several assaults, most of which happened in the man’s bed, and said he was often drunk when he attacked her, the complaint states. 

During one of the assaults, the girl said, the man squeezed her neck so hard she struggled to breathe and her vision became blurry. She said that after he left the room, her neck felt like it stung on the inside, adding that she wore a turtleneck to cover the red handprint he left on her neck, the complaint states.

The girl said the assaults continued until it was announced her mother and the man were getting a divorce and they moved out of the house in September 2022.

When the man was arrested at work last week, a gray straw with a powder residue on it was found in his pocket. He also had a chewing tobacco container in his pocket that contained a residue that tested positive for cocaine and fentanyl, according to the complaint.

During an interview, the man told authorities he had known the girl since she was 3. He said he didn’t recall when she and her mother moved in with him, but he thought it was in either 2017 or 2018.

He said he sold the house when he was sentenced to jail for operating while intoxicated. He also told authorities he owns five guns.

During a court hearing last week, Ozaukee County Circuit Judge Adam Gerol ordered the man not to enter establishments whose primary purpose is selling alcohol, not to have contact with anyone younger than 18 or possess firearms and surrender his guns to the Sheriff’s Office. 

The most serious crime the man is charged with — repeated sexual assault of a child — is punishable by a maximum 40 years in prison and 20 years of extended supervision.