Tim Ryan, tryan@wolfrivermedia.com
Sentencing of a former Shawano bar operator convicted of child sexual assault has been pushed off until April, after initially being moved up to this week.
Darwin R. Davis, 48, was convicted after a jury trial in November 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 originally set for Feb. 2 but was recently rescheduled to Thursday for reasons not disclosed by officials.
Within the past week, however, the sentencing was rescheduled again and is now set for April 5.
Email correspondence in the court record indicates that Davis’ defense counsel would not have been available Thursday because of a health issue involving a family member.
There is nothing in the court record explaining why the Feb. 2 sentencing date was initially moved up to Thursday.
Assistant District Attorney Catharine White, who prosecuted the case, had no comment.
Davis was convicted 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.
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. There have been no arrests in that case.
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 April 5 sentencing hearing.