Colfax man sentenced to one year in jail for sexual assaults in Dunn and Chippewa counties

By LeAnn R. Ralph

MENOMONIE — A 23-year-old Colfax man has been sentenced to one year in jail for third degree sexual assault in Dunn County and in Chippewa County.

Max D. Whinnery was sentenced to an additional 60 days in jail in Dunn County by Judge William Stewart during a court hearing November 6 for one felony count of third degree sexual assault.

Whinnery was sentenced to ten months in jail in Chippewa County October 6 on one felony count of third degree sexual assault.

Whinnery originally was charged in Dunn County with two felony counts of the second degree sexual assault of an unconscious victim, but the charges were amended to one count of third degree sexual assault and one count of second degree sexual assault of an unconscious victim.

Judge Stewart dismissed the second degree sexual assault charge.

The Chippewa County sentence includes four years of probation, and the Dunn County sentence includes five years of probation.

Both the Chippewa County judge and the Dunn County judge stipulated that while he is on probation, Whinnery is not allowed to possess or consume any alcohol and is not allowed to go into any bar, tavern or other establishment where the primary purpose of the business is the sale of alcohol.

Whinnery also is required to take part in sex offender treatment and to register with the state’s sex offender registry.

In Chippewa County and in Dunn County, Whinnery pleaded “no contest.” Both judges accepted the plea and found Whinnery guilty.

Whinnery also has been ordered to have no contact with the victims. In Chippewa County he was ordered to have no contact with other alleged victims in the case as well.

In Dunn County, Whinnery was ordered to perform ten hours of community service for each year of probation after the first year, for a total of four years, resulting in 40 hours of community service all together.

On-line court records indicate that Whinnery filed a notice of his intent to appeal his conviction in Chippewa County on October 23.

During a preliminary hearing in April of this year, Dunn County Deputy Dennis Rhead testified that he had received a report of a sexual assault from the Colfax Police Department.

Rhead said he had met with the alleged victim, who said Whinnery had sexually assaulted her on two different occasions.

The young woman said she had been asleep on both occasions and that she woke up to find Whinnery having sexual intercourse with her.

During the preliminary hearing, Rhead testified that the victim had reported the incidents after she had been talking to a friend about it, and the friend had said that similar incidents with Whinnery had happened to her and to other young women.