Saturday, October 5, 2024
Burlington woman who pleaded guilty to sexual assault is ordered to pay restitution
RACINE — A Burlington woman who was sentenced to 13 years for sexually assaulting a 12-year-old boy has been ordered to pay restitution, according to online records.
Kerry Hughes, who is 41, accepted a plea offer in April and pleaded guilty to one count of first-degree child sexual assault.
The prosecution and defense stipulated to nearly $6,000 in restitution for mileage and loss of wages, and the court ordered $2,299.36 in restitution for medical expenses, according to court records.
According to previous Journal Times reporting, Hughes communicated with the boy through text messages from August to November 2023. The relationship reportedly escalated to include sexual contact.
After serving her sentence, Hughes will be placed on extended supervision for five years. She also must register as a lifetime sex offender.
Friday, October 4, 2024
President Joe Biden returns to Milwaukee next week to discuss lead pipes, economy
President Joe Biden plans to return to Wisconsin on Tuesday to deliver remarks in Milwaukee focused on his administration's efforts to bolster the economy and replace lead pipes, the White House announced Friday.
The visit will mark Biden's second to the battleground state since he dropped out of the race in July and endorsed Vice President Kamala Harris. Biden last traveled to Wisconsin in September for a stop in Westby.
Additional details on Biden's upcoming visit were not immediately available. Biden will then hold a campaign event in Pennsylvania, another key battleground state in the upcoming presidential election.
With the Nov. 5 election now a month away, former President Donald Trump and Harris, along with their running mates — Ohio Sen. JD Vance and Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, respectively — have made repeated visits to Wisconsin.
Harris held a campaign stop on Thursday in Ripon, commonly referred to as the birthplace of the Republican Party, alongside former GOP U.S. Rep. Liz Cheney.
Trump, meanwhile, courted Republican voters in Waunakee and Milwaukee on Tuesday. The former president is also scheduled to hold a rally Sunday at the Dodge County Airport in Juneau.
Recent polling shows that the Democratic ticket is holding onto a narrow lead in the state. Marquette Law School's latest poll, released Wednesday, found that among likely voters and registered voters, 48% preferred Trump while 52% preferred Harris, although the results are within the margin of error for both groups.
Cops Gone Wild: Family whose house was raided by Elyria police files federal lawsuit against city, chief, officers
Caledonia man charged with child sex assault and possessing child porn
RACINE — A 44-year-old Caledonia man was charged Tuesday with one count of repeated sexual assault of a child and four counts of possessing child pornography.
Each charge is a felony.
If convicted of the assault charge, Patrick Hagen could spend at least 25 years in prison.
The pornography charges carry up to a $100,000 fine, a 25-year prison sentence, or both. The court can also impose a $500 surcharge for each image or copy of an image recovered.
According to the criminal complaint, a girl who is now 13, alleged that Hagen inappropriately touched her on multiple occasions during visits to Caledonia when she was 10 years old.
Police searched Kagen’s residence and reportedly found four images depicting child pornography and hundreds of images depicting beastiality.
Kagen reportedly denied the assault charges.
His cash bail was set at $100,000 on Tuesday, and he is expected to appear in the Racine County Courthouse for a preliminary hearing Oct. 9.
I have said for years that SE Wisconsin is a hotbed of pedophilia. The recent spate of arrests for sex crimes against children is proof of that.
RPD arrests man in ongoing homicide investigation
RACINE — U.S. Marshals arrested a man Wednesday in connection to the shooting death of 49-year-old Willie May on Aug. 8 in Racine.
Latrell Davis, who is 18, was charged with one count of first-degree homicide; two counts of attempted first-degree homicide; and one count of carjacking. Each count is a felony.
May and another man were shot in the 5500 block of Byrd Avenue. The other man, who is 44, survived.
According to a news release from the Racine Police Department, 17-year-old Cincere Davis and 15-year-old Alexjandro Medina are also suspects in the case.
Cincere Davis and Medina were taken into custody in August and face charges identical to Latrell Davis.
Cincere Davis is scheduled to appear in court for a status conference Oct. 23. Medina is scheduled for a status conference Oct. 7.
According to RPD, the U.S. Marshals Service found Latrell Davis at a residence in the 6300 block of 26th Avenue in Kenosha
Because the marshals were conducting an active search, Jerstad-Agerholm School, 3535 Lasalle St., and HOPE Christian School Via, 3502 Douglas Ave., were put on lockdown for a short time Wednesday.
Latrell Davis appeared in Racine County Court on Thursday. Commissioner Alice Rudebusch set a $1 million cash bond, according to online court records.
He is scheduled for a preliminary hearing on Oct. 1
Thursday, October 3, 2024
Judge blocks attorney general review of sealed Milwaukee Archdiocese bankruptcy documents
Jessie OpoienLaura Schulte
MADISON — A federal judge ruled this week against allowing access to court documents sealed nearly a decade ago in a bankruptcy filing by the Archdiocese of Milwaukee, denying a request made by the state Department of Justice as part of an investigation into sexual abuse committed by faith leaders in Wisconsin.
U.S. District Judge G. Michael Halfenger wrote in a Sept. 30 decision that the agency failed to make a valid case for revisiting the bankruptcy decision and did not provide a sufficient plan for notifying clergy abuse victims of its request for access to sealed records.
In a motion filed last year with the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Wisconsin, Attorney General Josh Kaul requested a confidential review of "sealed claims by survivors, objections to those claims, briefing on such objections, and rulings on the objections." Kaul argued the Archdiocese of Milwaukee had not voluntarily provided records sought by the agency.
Under the request, information from the documents would have been used to further a state DOJ investigation into the scope of faith leader abuse in Wisconsin, but no documents would be released publicly.
"Given the decades of secrecy and subversion surrounding abuse reports and the findings in other states in which inquiries into faith leader abuse were conducted, DOJ’s independent review of the lists of credibly accused priests published by dioceses in Wisconsin is amply justified," Kaul argued in the motion.
The DOJ motion sought to reopen the 2015 case that resulted in a settlement between the Archdiocese of Milwaukee and hundreds of survivors, in which the organization agreed to pay $21 million to compensate victims of sexual abuse. The settlement brought an end to a long-running case in bankruptcy court.
Kaul's request to reopen the case was limited to the DOJ's request to access sealed documents.
"DOJ does not ask for anything to be unsealed; it only asks that the DOJ be included among those that are permitted to confidentially review claims and related documents," the motion read.
The Archdiocese objected, arguing that abuse survivors filed their claims with the understanding they would be "received and maintained in the strictest confidence, under permanent seal, and that access to them be given only to a small and specified number of individuals who agreed in writing to comply with detailed confidentiality protocols," Halfenger wrote in his decision.
"The sheer magnitude of the State’s request is staggering, and that is without even considering the substantial logistical hurdles that would need to be cleared (and the monetary and other costs that would need to be incurred) to provide Abuse Survivors with adequate notice of the State’s request in this complex case that has been closed since 2016," the judge wrote.
According to Halfenger's ruling, more than 580 claims were filed by survivors of clergy abuse, and more than 550 remain permanently under seal.
The decision "completely dismisses what survivors wanted and still want," Nate's Mission program director Peter Isely told the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. Nate's Mission is an advocacy group aimed at ending clergy abuse in Wisconsin, named for Nate Lindstrom, who accused multiple priests at St. Norbert Abbey in De Pere of sexually abusing him in the 1980s. He died by suicide in 2020, nearly one year after the abbey stopped sending secret payments he received for 10 years.
The Archdiocese of Milwaukee filed for bankruptcy protection in 2011 as it faced more than a dozen civil lawsuits over its handling of abuse claims. The Archdiocese moved to reorganize, as the claims for financial compensation exceeded its means.
Under the eventual settlement agreement, 330 of about 570 people who filed sexual abuse claims in the case received financial settlements. At the time, the settlement payout paled in comparison to those in similar Catholic Church bankruptcy cases, such as Boston's $85 million settlement in 2003.
Kaul alleged the claims that weren't part of the settlement meant abusers could have gotten away with their crimes, and that some survivors never got the justice they deserved.
"To the extent that names of abusers who should be on these lists are not — even if those abusers are deceased — their survivors may have lived not only with the trauma from abuse but also with the compounding harm of not having their abuse acknowledged," he wrote. "Having their abuser named, and their abuse recognized, can provide a sense of healing for survivors of abuse."
The motion outlined how obtaining information included in the settlement might help complete reports made during the DOJ's faith leader inquiry.
The bankruptcy filings would provide a "unique opportunity to corroborate," Kaul argued.
The motion could have also granted the DOJ access to claims made against individuals within the Archdiocese who weren't clergy members, such as visiting priests, teachers and volunteers.
Frank LoCoco, the attorney representing the Archdiocese of Milwaukee., noted that Halfenger referred to the DOJ case as a “massive fishing expedition.”
“We are thankful for Judge Halfenger’s ruling because a breach of confidentiality like that would have been devastating to abuse survivors who see this case as closed, and want their claim kept under seal by the court,” LoCoco said in a statement. “In his ruling, Judge Halfenger reasserts the bankruptcy court’s finding at the time that because the abuse happened so long ago in the 1950s-70s, there are no longer any public safety concerns."
The DOJ did not immediately provide comment on the decision.
This story will be updated.
Cops Gone Wild: Nephew of Ojibwe leader Maulson claims he was targeted by Oneida County sheriff's deputy
Frank Vaisvilas
RHINELANDER - An Oneida County man with a well-known family name in the Northwoods claims he was targeted by a sheriff's deputy because he is Indigenous, following an incident in a Walmart parking lot that left him with a head injury.
He also contends the incident reflects broader hostility toward tribal members in the area.
A Sheriff's Department captain said the treatment of Thomas Maulson was well within bounds, and that being a member of the Lac du Flambeau tribe was irrelevant. He said he was disappointed that Maulson raised the issue of targeting and being Indigenous, and said he feared it would foster unnecessary divisiveness.
Maulson, 43, of Woodruff, said he was the subject of a road rage incident March 30 in which a driver followed him into a Rhinelander parking lot and challenged him to a fight. The two briefly tussled, but soon made up and the other driver drove away.
However, an Oneida County sheriff's deputy pulled up, approached the vehicle and asked Maulson for his driver’s license and registration. Maulson asked, “For what?” according to the police report. Oneida County Sheriff’s Deputy Will Taege then asked Maulson why he was breathing heavily, according to the report, and Maulson replied, “Does it matter?”
At that point, Taege said in his report, he realized Maulson was a “no” person and was not complying, so the deputy pulled Maulson out of his car to arrest him. Maulson repeatedly asked, "What did I do?" Taege’s dashcam video shows Taege handling Maulson, who is handcuffed, and Maulson falling to the pavement, hitting his head.
Maulson’s attorney, Maggie Hogan, said Taege did not give Maulson enough time to comply. Maulson and Hogan also argue Taege tripped Maulson while pushing him hard, causing the fall. Moments later, another officer arrived and helped lift Maulson from the ground. In the dashcam video, blood is seen streaming across Maulson’s face.
Captain Tyler Young of the Oneida County Sheriff’s Department reviewed the incident and said Taege acted appropriately. Young said Taege also had the options of a taser, pepper spray or focused strikes, which he did not use.
He said Taege observed that Maulson was agitated, and Taege was trying to get the situation under control. As for the fall, the sheriff's office contends Maulson’s legs were crossed and he tripped himself.
Maulson said nothing was ever out of control.
He contends he was targeted by Taege because he is a member of the Lac du Flambeau Ojibwe Nation. He said many residents in the area hold animosity toward the tribe, dating back to the so-called Walleye Wars in the 1980s and early '90s, and continuing to this day because of an ongoing dispute over access to non-tribal homes located on the Lac du Flambeau reservation.
Notably, the police dispatcher told Taege before the altercation and arrest that he should be looking for Maulson from Flambeau, according to a motion filed by Maulson's attorney. But Taege later said he didn’t know Maulson was a tribal member.
Maulson shares a name with his uncle, a well-known former tribal president and leader of the tribe during the Walleye Wars. Books have been written about his uncle, and about his actions leading up to a federal court decision that the state wrongfully prohibited Ojibwe members from harvesting fish in the Northwoods outside of the state-designated fishing season. The judge said those rights were guaranteed by treaty.
Many non-tribal people in the area protested the decision.
Young acknowledged some isolated incidents of harassment against tribal members harvesting walleye do still occur. But, he said, Taege is too young to remember the controversy. Further, he said the road access issue affects only a small number of people and is essentially a private matter. Maulson’s "actions are what caused him to be on the ground,” Young said.
Maulson also said he and other tribal members choose not to have or display tribal license plates for fear of being targeted by police outside the reservations. Maulson uses Wisconsin plates.
Young said plates are not a big deal. “I feel bad that somebody feels scared to have tribal plates,” he said.
Maulson was charged with misdemeanor disorderly conduct and resisting arrest. The other driver was caught by Rhinelander police and charged with disorderly conduct.
Maulson’s wife, Rachel Maulson, said their children, ages 6 and 2 at the time, were traumatized by the incident. She said the older one still has a visceral reaction when he sees police. “He was taught to respect authority, so he’s confused why they would hurt his loved one,” Rachel Maulson said. “When a cop drives by he’s nervous.”
Maulson received 13 stitches above his right eye, and said he still has medical issues affecting his vision and orientation.
Maulsen said he plans to sue the sheriff's office and the deputy, but his attorney told him to hold off until this case is settled. Hogan said a trial is scheduled for early January.
Frank Vaisvilas is a former Report for America corps member who covers Native American issues in Wisconsin based at the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. Contact him at fvaisvilas@gannett.com or 815-260-2262. Follow him on Twitter at @vaisvilas_frank.
Kamala Harris maintains tight 4-point Wisconsin edge over Donald Trump in Marquette poll
Vice President Kamala Harris maintains a four-point lead over President Donald Trump in Wisconsin, according to the l Law School poll released Wednesday.
Among both registered and likely voters, it was 52% for Harris and 48% for Trump. That shows no change from the last poll, released in mid-September, which had the same numbers for both registered and likely voters.
"It was a little bit tighter than that in July, after Harris first got in the race, where Trump led by 1% with registered (voters) but Harris led by 1% with likely voters," poll director Charles Franklin said. "But this four-point margin ... holds up again this time."
The poll surveyed 882 registered voters, 798 of which are considered likely to vote, between Sept. 18 and 26. Respondents are considered likely voters based on their voting record since 2016. The margin of error for both likely and registered voters was plus or minus 4.4 percentage points.
The poll release comes in the middle of a busy week for both campaigns in Wisconsin. Trump held two events in Milwaukee and Dane County yesterday, while second gentleman Doug Emhoff campaigned in Milwaukee at the same time. Harris is set to hold a rally in the Fox Valley Thursday, and Trump will return Sunday for a rally in Juneau.
Franklin said one more Marquette poll of Wisconsin voters will be released on Oct. 30, less than a week before Election Day on Nov. 5. Other polls in Wisconsin have found a tighter race with about a one or two point margin, he noted.
"Remember — not that I really want to remind you — but we were off by four points last time in 2020. We were off by over six in 2016," Franklin said. "So fair warning, these results could change. We could be wrong, on the other hand, we could be right."
Support for third-party candidates has dropped
When factoring in third-party candidates like Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., Jill Stein and Cornel West, Harris still has a four-point lead over Trump, 48% to 44% among registered voters.
Kennedy sued to remove his name from the ballot after dropping out of the race, a process he repeated in other battleground states over concerns that he would pull votes away from Trump. The state Supreme Court kept him on the ballot.
Mail-in absentee voting is underway in Wisconsin with Kennedy's name on the ballot. In the last Marquette poll, only 14% of voters were not aware that Kennedy had exited the race.
Support for Kennedy among Wisconsin voters has declined significantly over the past months, down to 3% in the new poll. Support for other third-party candidates has also dropped, now polling one percent or less. Earlier in the year, third-party candidates together were polling at about 24%.
"Put that together, it's a total of 6% voting third-party right now. The high this century is 5.5% of the actual vote in 2016," Franklin said. "So right now, the independent vote is just a smidgen higher than that actual vote was then."
Franklin has said that about a third of Kennedy voters would go to Harris, while two-thirds would vote for Trump. Some voters may still vote for Kennedy as a protest vote.
The enthusiasm gap between parties has almost disappeared
When President Joe Biden was still in the presidential race, Republicans had a large advantage in voter enthusiasm. In the first poll to include Harris as the candidate, she closed the enthusiasm gap, but Trump still had a slight edge. In the September poll, she pulled ahead: Respondents "very" enthusiastic to vote broke for Harris 53% and for Trump 47%.
In the new poll, Harris keeps an edge over Trump in voter enthusiasm, but Republicans have inched up in enthusiasm while Democrats had a slight dip. Among Democrats, 71% said they are "very" enthusiastic to vote, down one point from September, and 67% of Republicans said the same, up four points from the last poll.
"We're really not seeing huge differences with enthusiasm, maybe slightly more of a Democratic advantage with the enthused," Franklin said. "But it's not nearly the chasm that we saw with Biden, or the early, sharp differences we saw with Harris as the candidate."
(This story was updated to add new information.)
Jerstad-Agerholm briefly on lockdown during police search near schoo
Ryan Patterson
RACINE — Jerstad-Agerholm K-8 School was under a lockdown and then sheltered in place for about an hour Wednesday while law enforcement searched for a fugitive in a nearby neighborhood.
According to Sgt. Kristi Wilcox, Racine Police Department public information officer, RPD was helping the U.S. Marshals Service search for a fugitive, who was eventually taken into custody in Kenosha around 1:30 p.m.
No Jerstad-Agerholm students or staff were injured Wednesday in relation to the situation.
After being contacted by law enforcement, the school went into a lockdown around noon, according to Stacy Tapp, Racine Unified School District chief of communication and community engagement.
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Jerstad-Agerholm K-8 School, 3535 LaSalle St. |
School officials received more information a few minutes later, and the building then sheltered in place, meaning normal school activity occurred but no visitors could enter or exit the building.
Two additional people were taken into custody in Racine on unrelated charges during the fugitive investigation, according to Wilcox.
When the people were taken into custody, Jerstad-Agerholm stopped sheltering in place.
Regular building activities resumed Wednesday before the end of the school day, according to Tapp.
This is the first school year at the newly renovated Jerstad-Agerholm, 3535 LaSalle St.
Wednesday, October 2, 2024
Former Milwaukee City Attorney Tearman Spencer charged with misconduct in office, a felony
Alison DirrDaniel Bice
Spencer, 67, of Milwaukee is charged with misconduct in office, a felony, and obstructing an officer, a misdemeanor, according to a criminal complaint.
On the felony charge, the complaint states that between June 1, 2022, and Feb. 14, 2023, "in his capacity as a public employee (Spencer) exercised a discretionary power in a manner inconsistent with the duties of his employment and with intent to obtain a dishonest advantage for another."
He's accused of obstructing an officer in July 2024.
Spencer lost his bid for re-election in April to state Rep. Evan Goyke.
This story will be updated.
Alison Dirr can be reached at adirr@jrn.com.
Boycott, absences lead to lack of quorum at Racine Common Council meeting
Holly Gilvary
RACINE — Common Council did not have its meeting Tuesday because it failed to achieve a two-thirds quorum.
Eight of the council's 14 alders did not attend the meeting, including alders David Maack and Cinthia Esqueda, who had excused absences; and six alders who boycotted: Jeff Coe, Olivia Turquoise Davis, Melissa Kaprelian, Sandy Weidner, Henry Perez and Cory Sebastian.
In a news release Sept. 27, the boycotting alders said they are speaking out against the city's governing process that they said has created a lack of transparency.
The six alders plan to boycott council meetings until ordinances passed at the Aug. 8 Committee of the Whole meeting are put on a Common Council agenda, which is the next step for items approved by the committee.
Several members of the public who attended the meeting Tuesday expressed frustration about the early adjournment.
Kim Adams said she came to the meeting to speak about issues she's had trying to contact city employees, both in person at City Hall and over the phone.
She said she expected the meeting to not go through because of the lack of quorum, but was still disappointed.
"Everyone sitting in there, whether they're getting $20,000 a year or $100,000 a year, each person there is contributing to (council members') salary," Adams said. "Just be nice and listen to us, because y'all can solve the problems."
Denis Navratil said he came to the meeting to speak about the same governance issues boycotting alders are citing.
"Fundamentally, the issue is about governance, and the structure as it stands is such that the alderpeople cannot do their jobs," he said.
Navratil said he supports the boycotting alders and was disappointed that Mayor Cory Mason and the council members present did not stay to listen to the public's comments.
"It's cowardice, frankly, because they wouldn't listen to what their constituents have to say," Navratil said. "The mayor, in a statement earlier, said this is all about (being) for the constituents. Well, he just proved that he didn't want to listen to them."
The next Common Council meeting is scheduled for 6 p.m. Tuesday, Oct. 15.