James Kropf pleaded no contest Feb. 6 in a case nearly three years old involving the inappropriate touching of a child, but the sentencing in Shawano-Menominee County Circuit Court was pushed back a month when the state and the defense attorney couldn’t come to an agreement on what the law said about appropriate sentencing.
Kropf, who lives in Bowler, was charged May 5, 2023, with second degree sexual assault of a child and incest with a child in relation to two incidents between September 2021 and April 2022 in Bowler. During the plea hearing, the sexual assault case was dismissed without being read into the record, and the felony incest charge was changed to a misdemeanor sex offender violation.
Kropf was found guilty in Marathon County in a 2015 case involving child enticement with sexual contact and sentenced to four years in prison with eight years of probation. Kropf is still on probation from that case.
Assistant District Attorney Laura Nelson, addressing the Shawano County case, recommended Kropf be sentenced to six years probation, along with paying a $500 fine and court costs. Kropf would also not be allowed to have any incidental contact with the victim, Nelson said.
Defense attorney Carly Krueger argued against six years of probation, claiming the law only calls for a maximum of three years probation for the misdemeanor charge. She recommended a sentence of time served, noting the 267 days Kropf had served in jail before being able to post a $75,000 cash bond and that he was already on probation from the case in Marathon County and would be until 2028, which would be almost three years in itself.
“He has one single case on his record,” Krueger said regarding the Marathon County case. “This was 11 years ago. There is a significant period of extended supervision that is still in place. He has a good relationship with his current probation agent. His agent is not recommending to revoke based on the case today.”
Nelson had a different interpretation of the law, noting that the law calls for three years incarceration and three years of extended supervision, totaling six years. That’s why she made the six-year recommendation, she said.
Krueger argued that Kropf has not been in any other trouble since posting his bail and pointed to his 20 years of military service as a diesel mechanic in the U.S. Air Force as reasons to go with the time served recommendation she posed.
Judge William Kussel Jr. said he was unclear on the specifics of the particular law, so he directed Nelson and Krueger to prepare briefs on the sentencing guidelines by March 6. He scheduled a hearing for 8:15 a.m. March 13 to hear the briefs and, once he ruled, he would formally sentence Kropf.
According to the criminal complaint in the latest case, a Shawano County deputy received a call from Child Protective Services regarding a 10-year-old girl in Kropf’s care. CPS reported the girl told them that Kropf touched her in the swimsuit area.
In an interview with the girl’s mother, the mother was surprised and unaware of the circumstances, according to the complaint. She told law enforcement that visits with Kropf are from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. and are supervised by Kropf’s mother.
In an interview with the child, now 13, she described two instances where Kropf touched her chest in an inappropriate manner. She stated that both of the instances took place at Kropf’s mother’s home. When wrestling on the ground, the child said that Kropf touched her chest over her clothes, and she told him to stop, which she also said Kropf mimicked. The child also described a similar situation for the second time it happened.
During the plea hearing, Kropf apologized for what he did and vowed he would never do anything like that again.
“I sincerely apologize to all the parties involved and anyone that I may have harmed,” Kropf said. “I feel I have been rehabilitated and I’m going in the right direction. I am prepared to move forward in my life.”
Nelson said that she had met with the victim and her family, and they were accepting of the recommended sentence. The six years would extend beyond the girl’s 18th birthday, she said, which played a factor into the recommendation.
“I can tell the court that (the victim) was very emotional,” Nelson said. “She has been very traumatized, and she really wants to put this behind her. They are satisfied with this. Their primary consideration is obviously (the victim’s) safety, so the state believes that this sentence does protect (the victim). It allows her the space to heal and to move forward with her life.”
lpulaski@newmedia-wi.com
