Tim Ryan, tryan@wolfrivermedia.com
Leader Photo by Tim Ryan Darwin Davis reacts to the guilty verdicts handed down by a jury in Shawano-Menominee County Circuit Court on Friday on four counts of sexual assault of a child and other charges.
Darwin R. Davis was found guilty Friday of four counts of child sexual assault and five other charges after a weeklong jury trial in Shawano-Menominee County Circuit Court.
Davis, 48, was convicted of having sexual intercourse with a 15-year-old girl in the basement of a Shawano tavern he once operated and on multiple occasions at his home in 2012.
Davis could face a maximum 40 years in prison and $100,000 fine on each of the sex assault charges. Sentencing was set for Feb. 2.
The jury deliberated for just over three hours before reaching its verdict, stopping on at least two occasions to ask the court for a transcript of some of the testimony and a copy of a statement made by one of the witnesses for the prosecution.
The trial garnered particular attention because of Davis’ connection to a Shawano woman who went missing in 2013.
Heather Szekeres, 32, disappeared in June 2013 after last being seen at the Final Lap Tavern, the bar Davis operated.
Davis also said during the course of the trial that he was having a sexual affair with Szekeres.
Remains found in a wooded area in the town of Richmond in May 2014 were eventually identified as hers. The case remains under investigation.
Szekeres was expected to be a witness against Davis in the sexual assault trial.
Davis, who took the stand on Thursday, maintained that two of the witnesses testifying against him were being motivated by the belief he had something to do with the disappearance of Szekeres.
Those witnesses were Heather’s husband, Robert Szekeres, and her mother, Laurie Waddell.
Both testified that Davis had admitted to them that he was having sex with the 15-year-old girl.
The jury also heard testimony from Davis’ two children, who were 13 and 11 at the time of the sexual assaults. They said Davis asked them to lie to authorities about his relationship with the girl.
One of the children testified she had seen Davis and the girl engaged in sexual activity at his home, and that Davis also admitted to her that he was having sex with the girl.
In his closing statement, defense attorney Paul Zilles seized on the children’s change of story, and on what he said were inconsistencies in testimony given by other witnesses, including the 15-year-old victim.
The girl’s mother testified that a doctor’s examination in December 2012 showed the 15-year-old had been sexually active.
The girl testified she initially fabricated a story to protect Davis, with whom she said she had developed a bond. She later recanted and told authorities that she had been having sex with Davis.
Zilles suggested that the girl had taken Davis’ cell phone and uploaded texts, including some sexual in nature, that were shared with a cell phone Davis said he bought for his children but was found in her possession.
He also suggested that the witnesses testifying against Davis were lying for a variety of personal reasons, including the disappearance of Heather Szekeres.
“If you’re looking for a motivation to lie, that’s it,” he said.
Assistant District Attorney Catharine White, in her closing statement, called the defense argument “a smokescreen” and Davis’ testimony “patently incredible.”
She said that to believe the argument meant accepting the premise that all of the witnesses for the state in the case — several of whom live in other states — cooperated in a conspiracy to frame Davis.
“You can believe there was a massive conspiracy, or you can believe what the evidence has shown,” White said.
The jury convicted Davis on four counts of second-degree sexual assault of a child, a felony count of possession of marijuana, and misdemeanor counts of possessing drug paraphernalia, resisting or obstructing an officer, and two counts of contributing to the delinquency of a child.
Davis still has one other case pending in Shawano County on felony charges of marijuana possession, possession of narcotic drugs and bail jumping. The status of that case will be determined at the Feb. 2 sentencing hearing.
According to court records, Davis was previously convicted of second-degree sexual assault of a child in Langlade County in 1994 and was sentenced to five years in prison. That information was not shared with the jury.