November 28, 2018 at 5:10 p.m.
Former janitor pleads not guilty in child sexual assault case
Judge denies request for bond reduction
Former janitor pleads not guilty in child sexual assault case
Stavros Iliopoulos, 65, was in Oneida County Circuit Court Tuesday morning for an adjourned initial appearance at which time he waived his right to a preliminary hearing and entered not guilty pleas to all charges.
Iliopoulos was charged last week with first-degree sexual assault of a child, false imprisonment and child enticement, all felonies, after a Northwoods Community Elementary School (NCES) student claimed he intercepted her as she attempted to enter a restroom Nov. 20 and touched her inappropriately. Iliopoulos was working as a school custodian at the time of the alleged assault but has since been fired by Victory Janitorial, which has a contract with the School District of Rhinelander to clean school buildings.
Iliopoulos appeared by video from the Oneida County Jail, where he is being held in lieu of $50,000 cash bail. His attorneys, public defenders Mary Burns and Elizabeth Svehlek, appeared from circuit judge Michael Bloom's courtroom. Assistant district attorney Mary Sowinski represented the state.
At the hearing, Svehlek filed a written notice waiving the preliminary hearing. When Sowinski advised that the formal charging information would mirror the charges alleged in the criminal complaint, Svehlek said her client would be willing to proceed to arraignment immediately. She then entered not guilty pleas on his behalf.
Based on the information in the original criminal complaint, Bloom found there is probable cause to believe Iliopoulos committed a felony and bound him over for further proceedings.
Svehlek then argued for a bond reduction, citing her client's lack of financial resources and inability to travel out of the area.
"We do know that he was not born in the (U.S.), but I'm told he does not have a passport," Svehlek said. "He does not have access to travel overseas at this time."
A high signature bond would be just as effective in terms of keeping her client in the area, or at least a reduction to between $3,000 and $5,000 cash with the remainder on signature bond, Svehlek argued.
"Because of that, regardless of the seriousness of the offenses, I argue that he is not a flight risk," she added.
In her statement to the court on the bond modification, Sowinski noted that Iliopoulos had documented criminal cases in 1990, '91 and '97, but they were not sufficient to generate court records that would show whether he attended all required court appearances.
"However, the state would point out that both the strength of its case, relative to the collaborating information provided in the complaint as to the video evidence of the location of the defendant at the time of the alleged offense," Sowinski said. "And I would certainly urge the court to consider the statutory factors pertaining to the protection of the public in considering any reduction in bail."
"The criminal justice system recognizes the presumption of innocence and criminal charges are characterized appropriately as allegations prior to conviction or proof beyond a reasonable doubt," Bloom noted in response to the request. He then went on to explain that there are a variety of different factors a judge must consider in setting bail. Among those considerations are the nature of the allegations, the penalty the defendant faces and the strength of the evidence. State statutes clearly state that the cash amount is to ensure the defendant appears in court and the non-monetary conditions focus on the need to protect the public, he added.
"However, when focusing on the gravity of the offense and the potential penalty the defendant faces, along with the strength of the evidence, those factors in and of themselves suggest a higher motivation for any criminal to potentially seek to avoid the jurisdiction of the court," Bloom said as he denied the request.
If he posts bond, Iliopoulos is prohibited from having any unsupervised contact with anyone under age 18 and may not be on school premises.
Characterizing Iliopoulos's alleged actions as a "betrayal," district superintendent Kelli Jacobi began a planned school board retreat Monday evening with a briefing on the case.
Jacobi reported that she spent Monday morning at the school, starting with a staff meeting at 7:30 a.m., planning what to tell the students and send home to the parents.
"We had counselors available at the school," she said. "There will be one there all week and we got several on standby, so it will depend on the need of students and staff. I sent two staff members to see the counselor today during the day because they were not doing extremely well. There is a sense of betrayal, which I'm sure you all understand, because this was a trusted person and part of the NCES family. So it was shocking, people are working through the stages of grief."
She also told the board she has met with the parents of the alleged victim and has had phone conversations with a few other concerned parents.
Based on her review of the district's contract with Victory Janitorial, Jacobi noted it appears the company did what it is required to do under the agreement.
"They followed through and did everything that they were supposed to do according to our contract, the background check was filled. The only thing that showed up was a disorderly conduct in 1991 and a battery at the same time. There were two charges and the battery was dismissed," she explained. "They were misdemeanors, and that has been many, many years ago. So there was nothing in there that would have led anyone to believe there was a problem of this type of situation."
Iliopoulos faces the possibility of life in prison if convicted of all charges. A pretrial conference is set for Jan. 15, 2019.
Jamie Taylor may be reached via email at [email protected].
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