A sexual assault case that tore a family apart and divided a community came to an emotional close at a sentencing hearing Friday in Shawano-Menominee County Circuit Court.
Douglas A. Mauritz, 41, of Tigerton, was sentenced to 10 years in prison and 10 years extended supervision on charges of repeated sexual assault of a child and incest.
Assistant District Attorney Catharine White had asked the court for 30 years in prison and another 15 of extended supervision.
Mauritz pleaded no contest in August to those charges under a plea agreement that dismissed 11 other counts, including additional counts of incest and repeated sexual assault, and multiple counts of exposing genitals to a child, sex with a child 16 years or older and intimidating a victim to dissuade reporting.
White called the case a tragedy for the victim, who was 14 years old when the assaults by Mauritz began four years ago in the village of Tigerton.
“He sexually assaulted her hundreds of times between the ages of 14 and 18,” White said.
White said Mauritz also had nude and compromising photos of the girl and threatened her to keep her from telling her family or authorities.
She said Mauritz followed through on his threats to ruin her reputation when she did come forward.
“She finally told. And what has happened to her?” White said. “The community has been turned against her. Her family has been turned against her.”
White said Mauritz’s family has painted the girl as the aggressor in the situation.
“At 18 years old, she has had to put up with the community whispering behind her back and shunning her, all because she was a victim,” White said.
White said she was completely disgusted by the numerous letters sent to the court in defense of Mauritz.
“He is not a good man,” she said. “A good man does not subject a girl 22 years younger than him … to this sort of sexual deviancy. He may present a good face to the public, but this is a bad man. And for him and his family members to convince others that this was her fault is evil.”
White also noted that Mauritz entered into a diversion agreement in 1993 while still a juvenile for the sexual abuse of a 2-year-old girl and a 7-year-old boy who were children in his mother’s in-home day care center.
White said Mauritz’s family knew his history but still went out into the community to solicit support for Mauritz and vilify the victim.
“Doug’s father is a Tigerton Village Board member,” White said. “These are people who have standing in the community and have used what standing they have for an evil purpose, and that is to get Doug less punishment for what he’s done.”
The court proceeding was occasionally punctuated by sobs from family members and supporters of Mauritz.
The victim and her mother read tearful statements to the court describing the emotional impact of the assaults and the resulting division that has turned aunts, uncles and other extended family members against them.
The girl’s mother said the assaults were particularly devastating coming from a man who is a firefighter and emergency responder in the community.
“These are the kinds of people you are supposed to trust and go to,” she said.
She also directed a question to family members who support Mauritz.
“How would they handle this if this was their daughter?” she said.
Both the girl and her mother asked the court for the stiffest possible penalty against Mauritz.
“I never want him to see daylight again,” the girl said.
Supporters of Mauritz did not speak at the hearing, but their letters on his behalf were placed in the court record.
According to the criminal complaint, the assaults came to light after the girl reported she had been raped by Mauritz during their last meeting on Oct. 14, 2014. The assaults date back to September 2010.
Mauritz’s attorney, Kevin Musolf, said his client knows his actions were wrong and takes responsibility for them.
However, he tried to cast doubt on some of the girl’s allegations, particularly that Mauritz controlled and intimidated her.
“It takes a level of sophistication that Doug just doesn’t have,” he said.
Musolf said the truth of what happened “is probably somewhere in the middle.”
Musolf asked for a lesser sentence of three to five years in prison.
In his statement to the court, Mauritz apologized for his actions and said he hoped to get treatment to keep anything like this from happening again.
In passing sentence, Judge James Habeck disagreed with Musolf’s contention that Mauritz wasn’t sophisticated enough to control the victim.
“That doesn’t require a high level of intelligence,” he said.
However, Habeck also called Mauritz a productive and responsible member of the community in other respects, given his community service as a firefighter and lack of previous criminal record as an adult.
In addition to 10 years in prison and 10 years extended supervision, Mauritz will also have to register with the state as a sex offender.
