By LeAnn R. Ralph
MENOMONIE — A 39-year-old Wheeler man charged with 30 felonies related to child sexual assault and possession of child pornography has pleaded guilty to three counts as part of a plea deal.
Wayne A. Englin appeared in Dunn County Circuit Court June 13 for a plea hearing, and Judge James Peterson accepted Englin’s plea of guilty on three of the charges.
Englin pleaded guilty to two felony counts of the repeated sexual assault of the same child with at least three violations of first degree sexual assault and one felony count of the possession of child pornography.
Judge Peterson dismissed the remaining 27 felonies but ordered them read into the record for sentencing.
The judge also ordered a Pre-sentence Investigation (PSI) and that the report be completed and returned to the court two weeks before the sentencing hearing scheduled on August 27.
Judge Peterson set a $200,000 cash bail for Wayne Englin on May 13, and at the time of the plea hearing, Wayne Englin remained in custody at the Dunn County jail.
Englin’s wife, Michelle Englin, age 40, is charged with seven felony counts all together, four counts related to the sexual assault of a child, one felony count of child enticement with sexual contact, one felony count of failing to prevent mental harm to a child and one felony count of neglecting a child.
Judge Peterson set a $50,000 cash bail for Michelle Englin on May 13 and issued an order for a competency evaluation May 20.
At a court hearing June 3 based on a report by Dr. Donna Minter, a clinical psychologist, Judge Peterson issued a decision that Michelle Englin is competent to stand trial.
During a preliminary hearing June 13, Judge Peterson found probable cause and ordered Michelle Englin bound over for trial.
Michelle Englin is scheduled for an arraignment hearing July 8.
A Dunn County Sheriff’s Department investigator received a tip on March 20 of this year from the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children indicating that on January 23, Facebook had flagged a photograph as apparent child pornography, according to the criminal complaint.
The investigator then received four additional tips all associated with the original tip. The tips referenced images originating from five different Facebook accounts.
A subpoena to Charter Communications revealed the IP address for Internet access was assigned to Wayne Englin with an address on Hillside Drive South in the Village of Wheeler, the complaint states.
The investigator obtained a search warrant for Englin’s address that was executed May 8. Wayne Englin and his wife, Michelle, were both at the residence at the time the search warrant was executed.
In addition to a cell phone and computer tablets, investigators discovered numerous pairs of juvenile female underwear with the names written on the inside of the underwear, even though no female juveniles live at the residence, according to the complaint.
Wayne Englin’s sexual assault victims are a teenaged boy and a toddler.
The criminal complaint includes descriptions of 10 pornographic images of what are described as “prepubescent females.”
