Probation revoked for former Boyceville resident in assault case involving two children
By LeAnn R. Ralph
MENOMONIE — Probation has been revoked and a prison sentence ordered for a former Boyceville resident who pleaded guilty to an amended charge in a sexual assault case in 2012 involving two children.
Judge Rod Smeltzer revoked probation for Michael Allen Powell, 36, of Hammond, during a hearing in Dunn County Circuit Court March 2 and sentenced Powell to eight years in prison, with four years of initial confinement and four years of extended supervision.
Powell initially was charged with four counts of first-degree sexual assault in a case involving a girl and a boy who were less than ten years of age and who lived in Boyceville at the time.
Powell pleaded guilty to a single amended charge of causing mental harm to a child in September of 2012.
Dunn County Assistant District Attorney Andrew Maki argued before the court at the March 2 hearing that Powell, who was in custody at the time of the hearing, has had a number of probation violations.
Maki recommended the eight year sentence.
Powell’s attorney, Jeremiah Harrelson, said that Powell does not recall one particular incident cited in the probation violation but that he was not arguing against the recommendation for prison time.
Powell waived the revocation hearing and requested that he not be required to register as a sex offender for the rest of his life.
In addition to the order for initial confinement and probation, Judge Smeltzer ordered Powell to register as a lifetime sexual offender, stating that lifetime registry was appropriate, and gave Powell credit for 533 days served.
Causing mental harm to a child is a Class F felony that carries a fine of up to $25,000 and/or up to 12.5 years in prison.
During several court hearings related to the case, it was revealed that the children’s aunt and mother questioned the children’s allegations, but the grandmother believed the children.
According to the criminal complaint, the children explicitly described intimate sexual contact initiated by Powell.
During the sentencing hearing in September of 2012, Judge William Stewart noted the psychological assessment had indicated Powell was a victim of abuse when he was a child and that more than 50 percent of those who were abused as children go on to abuse in the way that they were abused.
During the 2012 sentencing hearing, Powell was sentenced to six months in jail and seven years of probation.
