Leader Staff
A man ordered to spend 40 years at a mental health institution for sexual assault of a child in Shawano County in 1996 won a conditional early release after a hearing Wednesday in Shawano County Circuit Court.
Kenneth A. Filter, 55, was found not guilty by mental disease or defect of first-degree sexual assault of a 6-year-old child, as well as subsequent crimes between 1997 and 1999 that included theft, felony bail jumping and felony escape.
Filter was committed to Mendota Mental Health Institute for 40 years on the sexual assault case, according to online court records, as well as a consecutive 6½ years for property crimes and escape, and 5¼ years for felony bail jumping.
During a nearly two-hour hearing Wednesday, Judge William Kussel Jr. heard testimony from Dr. Kent Berney, a psychologist who evaluated Filter.
Berney recommended conditional release but in a very restrictive placement into a community-based residential facility that would strictly monitor Filter.
District Attorney Greg Parker objected to the conditional release citing the seriousness of the crime and information contained in reports of Berney and a social worker showing that Filter was still exhibiting behavior at Mendota Mental Health Institute that showed he was still a danger to the public and to himself.
Parker cited incidents in the reports showing that Filter had experienced auditory hallucinations in which he had suicidal ideations, and that Filter was placed in the maximum security unit for his behaviors as recently as January.
Kussel said the case was a close call, but granted Filter’s request for conditional release pending a plan that is consistent with Berney’s recommendations.
A court review of the conditional release plan was scheduled for Sept. 10.