March 26, 2018 at 4:31 p.m.
Child sex offender wins release to Oneida County
Wortman served time for 1993 incident at Hodag Beach
Child sex offender wins release to Oneida County
On Jan. 5. 1994, a jury convicted Charles A. Wortman of first-degree sexual assault of a child and child enticement (exposing sexual organ). According to court records, the charges were filed in connection with an Aug. 7, 1993 incident at Hodag Beach involving an 8-year-old girl.
Judge Robert E. Kinney sentenced Wortman to 20 years in state prison on the sexual assault charge and 10 years on the enticement charge, to be served concurrently.
An appeals court affirmed the sentence on March 23, 1995. As was allowed under the old sentencing system, Wortman petitioned for parole several times, only to be denied.
According to a forensic psychologist who testified at an earlier hearing in the case, Wortman has a long history of sexually assaulting young girls, dating back to 1978 when he was first charged in Racine County when he was 23 years old. He was accused of enticing a 6-year-old, but the charge was dismissed. That same year he was also accused of trying to entice a 7-year-old girl in Milwaukee County, but that charge, too, was dismissed.
He was convicted of abducting a child in Milwaukee County in 1978 and served three years in the Winnebago Correctional Center.
The psychologist testified that DOC records show Wortman was incarcerated for violating the terms of his parole. He was then released in Racine County in 1987 where he was arrested 23 days later and charged with first-degree sexual assault of a child. He pled guilty to fourth-degree sexual assault as a repeater and returned to prison.
After his release in the early 1990s, he made his way to Rhinelander. He was arrested a few days after the Aug. 7, 1993 incident which was interrupted when a Hodag Beach lifeguard approached Wortman and the victim, according to court records.
On Dec. 28, 2015, the state filed a petition to have Wortman committed as a sexually violent person under State Statute 980.02. The case was assigned to Branch II judge Michael Bloom.
Kevin Greene, an assistant district attorney from Brown County who handles Chapter 980.02 cases in a 20-county area in northern part of the state for the Wisconsin Department of Justice, represented the state while Evan Weitz represented Wortman.
The case has been slowly working its way through the courts and was scheduled to be heard by a jury later this year.
Under the terms of a stipulated agreement worked out between Greene and Weitz, Wortman agreed that he meets the requirements for commitment, but in doing so he was able to secure release due to the progress he has made since he was institutionalized.
"Both sides basically negotiated a settlement, each party gets a little something," Greene explained. "But he has been committed now as a sexually violent person. So that is certainly a positive from the state's perspective, because we believe he meets the definition. Honestly, for him, he would rather be out in the community then in an institution."
Wortman could have been placed in a mental health treatment facility until it was determined that the underlying mental disorder has been at least treated sufficiently to the point that he is no longer predisposed "to engage in acts of sexual violence."
Wortman is currently being held in Sand Ridge Secure Treatment Center in Mauston.
The order for his supervised release would place Wortman somewhere in Oneida County.
"What is typically done is the county of residence," Greene said.
There will be restrictions on where Wortman can live and his residence must be approved by the Department of Health Services prior to his release.
"There are statutory criteria that have to be met for any placement," Greene said. "It is up to the Department of Health Services to find a placement and propose it. It has to meet the criteria that are in the statutes. 1,500 feet is the current standard of school, park, day care center, I think are included, and churches are included."
It's unclear when exactly Wortman will return to Oneida County. The statute calls for a placement plan within 90 days but Greene said that is rarely accomplished.
"That is difficult to do, some of these placements are difficult to find. So I can't say for certain that we will be able to do that in that time frame. It really depends on locating a residence," he said.
Wortman, who has to register as a sex offender for the rest of his life, will also face intense scrutiny when he is placed back in the community after over 20 years. If he violates the terms of his placement, which are even stricter than common extended supervision rules, he could be returned to Sand Ridge under the commitment he agreed to on March 14.
"He will have a lengthy list of rules and conditions that he will have to follow. Some of them are statutory, some of them are from the Department of Health Service," Greene said. "He will be monitored and have those rules and if he violates those rules he can be revoked. And if he was revoked, he would be returned to the Sand Ridge Treatment Center."
The supervision will include Department of Health Service approval of any job he is offered. Also, throughout his first year on release, he has to be chaperoned wherever he goes in the community.
"He is going to be heavily monitored," Greene said.
As part of the Chapter 980 process, Wortman was attempting to disprove what he eventually admitted to, which included a lot of psychological testing.
"He has been in treatment at the institution," Greene said. "I believe there were three evaluators who were scheduled to testify, one for the state and two for the respondent (Wortman)."
Bloom has to approve any placement plan, and if one were to be ready at the next hearing June 22, the judge will consider it, Greene explained.
"There will be a hearing at some point for the judge to approve that plan," Greene said. "But, because that plan has to include the residence, I can't say if that will be in 90 days or 6 months or a year. Unfortunately, it's not unusual for it to take a year anymore."
Greene said such a hearing would last anywhere from 15-30 minutes, if all parties are in agreement. Most likely all parties would appear by telephone, as they have for the past four hearings. The last time Wortman or the two attorneys physically appeared in the Branch II courtroom was for a motion hearing on May 4, 2017.
"It's much more difficult when his attorney is out of Milwaukee and I'm based out of Green Bay," Greene said. "I cover 20 counties doing this, it's difficult to schedule this many counties."
Greene said if Weitz challenges any of the rules placed on Wortman under the proposed release plan, the hearing could take longer and require both attorneys to travel to Rhinelander.
"It's much easier when everybody agrees on the rules and the plan, assuming the property meets the criteria," Greene said.
Jamie Taylor may be reached via email at [email protected].
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