A 32-year-old Town of Wescott man is facing up to 60 years in prison for inappropriately touching a 12-year-old girl staying at his home.
Jakob Malitz has been charged with first-degree sexual assault of a child under the age of 13. A $20,000 cash bond was imposed on him at an initial hearing June 10.
Shawano County sheriff’s deputies responded to a complaint in the city of Shawano on May 30, when the mother of the victim claimed her daughter had been sexually assaulted several months earlier in Malitz’s home on Raguse Road, according to the criminal complaint.
The victim was initially hesitant to talk to a deputy, but then she opened up and alleged that Malitz had touched one of her breasts over her clothing while she and her mother were sleeping in the same bed one night in February. In the complaint, the victim claimed Malitz was making up an excuse that he was just kissing her on the cheek.
The victim did not tell her mother what had happened until a week later, when the mother sensed something was wrong, according to the complaint. The mother said that the victim “use to love him,” referring to Malitz. The victim did not want to meet with police, but the mother decided at the end of May she could no longer keep quiet.
The victim said there was no other sexual contact other than the breast, which she claimed lasted about three seconds.
The mother recorded a conversation with Malitz, according to the complaint, in which he talked about the incident but did not actually confess to anything, a deputy reported. The mother claimed Malitz abused alcohol and drugs and was known to be a liar.
When deputies confronted Malitz about the incident, he allegedly claimed he had been drinking that night and was under the influence of marijuana and an unidentified substance, according to the complaint. He claimed he had gone into the bedroom to get “friendly” with the mother, who was his girlfriend before breaking up with him in 2025, even though she and her children still lived with him at the time and slept in separate bedrooms.
Instead of touching the mother, Malitz allegedly groped the victim, according to the complaint. The lights were on in the room at the time, Malitz said in the complaint, and when he saw who he was touching, he “freaked out” and left the room.
The victim and her family moved out of the house soon after, but the complaint states that there had been plans to move out before the alleged incident occurred.
Malitz’s case is scheduled for a preliminary hearing June 19 before Shawano-Menominee County Circuit Court Judge William Kussel Jr. He is currently in the Shawano County Jail.
lpulaski@newmedia-wi.com
