Former Boyceville man faces additional charges of child sexual exploitation

By LeAnn R. Ralph

MENOMONIE  —  A 39-year-old former Boyceville resident facing eight felony charges related to the sexual assault of two young boys is facing two additional felonies related to the sexual exploitation of a young girl.

Judge Rod Smeltzer issued an arrest warrant for Ted Lopez on the newly filed charges January 24.

Lopez appeared in Dunn County Circuit Court on the warrant for the additional charges February 1. 

A cash bail of $100,000 on the seven felonies was set August 31, 2016. 

Judge Smeltzer reduced the bail to $50,000 during a preliminary hearing October 13, 2016.

Lopez remained in custody until he posted the $50,000 cash bail January 10.

During the February 1 court hearing, Dunn County Assistant District Attorney Holly Wood-Webster requested than an additional cash bail of $10,000 be set for the newly-filed felony counts of child sexual exploitation and exposing a child to harmful materials.

Judge Smeltzer ordered that the $50,000 cash bail already posted should also apply to the new charges.

In one of three cases in Dunn County, Lopez faces seven felony charges: repeated sexual assault of the same child (at least three violations of first degree sexual assault); causing mental harm to a child; child sexual exploitation; causing a child less than 13 to view or listen to sexual activity; child enticement; exposing a child to harmful material; and possession of child pornography.

In another Dunn County case, Lopez is charged with one count of the repeated sexual assault of the same child (with at least three violations of first degree sexual assault) for which he posted a $10,000 cash bail July 8, 2016. 

According to the criminal complaint in the second of the two cases involving young boys, between January 1, 2010, and December 31, 2014, Lopez allegedly committed repeated sexual assault involving the same child, Victim #2, in the Village of Boyceville.

Exploitation

In the sexual exploitation case, Lopez is accused of lifting up the shirt of a young girl and taking pictures of her chest, according to the criminal complaint.

At the time of the incident, the girl was eight years old.

The alleged victim told investigators that Lopez also had tried to persuade her and her sister, who is few years older and who Lopez described as “hot,” to get into a car with him so he could give them a ride home, according to the complaint.

The alleged victim also told investigators that e-mailed pictures of Lopez’s penis had been on a tablet computer she had seen.

The alleged incidents with the young girl also occurred in the Village of Boyceville. 

Menomonie

After learning of the additional allegations, according to the complaint, Boyceville Police Chief Greg Lamkin went to Menomonie where he and a deputy from the Dunn County Sheriff’s Department attempted to locate Lopez at a home on Tainter Street.

While the officers were there, Lopez’s parents said they did not know where he was, but then they received a telephone call.

The father identified the caller as Lopez and subsequently handed the telephone to Police Chief Lamkin, who told Lopez he needed to talk to him in person.

According to the complaint, Lopez’s father took the telephone back and was heard asking the caller about a job the caller had gone to see about. Lopez’s father began speaking softly, and then in a louder voice said, “Okay, Rene, listen to this. We’re not coming to visit. We have no money. We’ll have to leave it until next year. I don’t have the money to go to California.”

Lopez’s father hung up the phone and then came back into the living room and stated, “that was Rene my other son. He was looking for a job, but I don’t know where he is right now.”

Police Chief Lamkin asked if it was not Ted on the phone, and Lopez’s father said it was his other son from California.

According to the complaint, “Chief Lamkin told Santiago that he said it was the defendant and tried to have him talk to the defendant on the phone. Santiago said he thought it was the defendant but it was not.”

Police Chief Lamkin and the deputy drove around the neighborhood and down the alley and saw someone wearing a jacket walking into the back door of the home.

Police Chief Lamkin went back to the home and talked to Mrs. Lopez, who said the person they had seen was her husband, getting her rosary from outside. 

Lopez is scheduled for an initial appearance in Dunn County Circuit Court on the latest charges February 28.