PHOTO: Shawano County Clerk of Courts Ethan Schmidt, left, explains some paperwork to Jacob Rudnick, right, following his July 30 sentencing hearing as his attorney, Christopher Van Wagner, works on other matters (Lee Pulaski | NEW Media)
Jacob Rudnick will not be going to jail for a pair of sexual assaults in the Town of Lessor — for now.
Rudnick, 31, was sentenced to five years’ probation after he pleaded guilty in January to a felony count of third-degree sexual assault and two counts of misdemeanor fourth-degree sexual assault. He originally had been charged with second-degree and third-degree sexual assault for luring two women in 2022 and 2023 to a park in Lessor and forcibly attempting sexual intercourse, even after the women said they did not want to do so.
Rudnick’s sentence on July 30 also requires him to remain on the sex offender registry for at least 15 years after his probation. He must maintain absolute sobriety and not have any contact with his victims. He is forbidden from being on any social media and cannot go on any apps where dating is a feature. He will not be allowed to engage in romantic or sexual relationships with anyone without approval from his probation agent.
Shawano-Menominee Circuit Court Judge William Kussel Jr. sentenced Rudnick to eight years — four years of prison and four years of probation — for the third-degree sexual assault and nine months of jail time for each of the fourth-degree counts, but he stayed the prison time, warning Rudnick that he would put him behind bars if he violated his probation. It was unclear whether the 327 days he spent in the Shawano County Jail after being arrested in 2023 would be applied to the prison sentence.
Rudnick submitted a letter to the court conceding what he’d done. He also spoke briefly to Kussel at the sentencing hearing.
“I have some very important things I need to learn,” Rudnick said. “There are some things that I have to do if I don’t want to go back (to prison). I am very sorry that I hurt those young women.”
Assistant District Attorney Laura Nelson noted in her sentencing argument that there were factors that could have led to her recommending prison time, including one of the victims saying in the pre-sentencing investigation that Rudnick was a “creep.” However, some other discoveries reported in that investigation revealed a man who was withdrawn and introverted who had no criminal record prior to his arrest two years ago.
The investigator indicated that Rudnick was “uncertain and undecided on major life issues and has very little sense of direction in his life,” Nelson said, adding that Rudnick suffers from anxiety and awkwardness.
“He likely appears to others as if he has little interest in socializing,” Nelson said. “In fact, he probably does not invite social interaction with others, and he makes no special effort to appear friendly.”
Someone with the characteristics described in the report would likely see apps like Snapchat and Hily as “safe,” according to Nelson, but the use of the apps to meet other women when he was already living with a girlfriend seemed inappropriate.
“That seemed to him … to be a safe place to go,” she said. “What followed was wholly inappropriate and, in fact, criminal.”
Nelson noted that, during the stint in jail, Rudnick came across an inmate who had an issue with touching other inmates inappropriately, and when the inmate touched Rudnick inappropriately, he was hesitant to say no. In the pre-sentencing report, Rudnick said that just because someone does not specifically say to stop, it does not mean the act is OK.
“I think that’s very relevant,” Nelson said. “I think Mr. Rudnick, in his written allocution, expresses that very same thought that what he believed was his intention on this hookup app was not, in fact, these other ladies’ intention on this hookup app. Maybe they were looking for someone simply to communicate with, maybe someone to start a dating relationship with. It was not: ‘Hey, let’s meet and immediately have sex.’”
Defense attorney Christopher Van Wagner recounted his own difficulty getting dates in high school but noted that the way people develop relationships has changed greatly since then, and the variety of apps out there bringing people together have made the message of relationships much more confusing.
“It’s so hard to be 25 or 30 now if you are not that social, and yet these apps make people jump right into sex,” Van Wagner said. “The apps promote very prompt intimacy on the first get-together without the emotional development. That’s what Jacob lacked in his relationships.”
Van Wagner reiterated that Rudnick would not benefit from prison time, pointing out that many in-prison treatment programs do not start until someone has served at least 18 months. He suggested Rudnick entering programs available in the community would be more of a benefit.
“At 31 and having now been bitten hard by the criminal justice system that he spent almost a year in jail, Jacob’s dying to get back to work,” Van Wagner said. “He really is. He’s a worker bee who keeps to himself.”
Kussel told Rudnick that he was going to have to live with the “bad thing” that he did, and that it was important to change his approach when trying to develop relationships.
“You met at a park, which was not a good place to meet someone for the first time,” Kussel said. “If you’re going to meet someone in a safe place, you should go have a cup of coffee in a public place.”
Rudnick’s legal troubles are not finished with this case, though. A case was filed earlier this year in Outagamie County, and Rudnick is being charged with three more counts of third-degree sexual assault, two more counts of fourth-degree sexual assault and a count of third-degree sexual assault involving the bodily fluids of the defendant. That case is scheduled for a pre-trial conference at 1:30 p.m. Sept. 15.
lpulaski@newmedia-wi.com
