By LeAnn R. Ralph
MENOMONIE — A 49-year-old Elk Mound man has pleaded “no contest” and has been found guilty in Dunn County Circuit Court on two felony counts related to the repeated sexual assault of a child.
Richie Knuth appeared with his attorney, Francis Rivard, for a plea hearing before Judge Rod W. Smeltzer May 10.
Knuth initially was charged with four felonies related to the sexual assault of a child and also was charged with two misdemeanors.
Judge Smeltzer dismissed the two misdemeanors and two of the felonies and accepted Knuth’s plea of “no contest” on the remaining felonies and found Knuth guilty.
The Knuth case previously had been scheduled for a jury trial this month.
Jury selection originally was scheduled to begin at 2 p.m. on the day of the plea hearing.
Judge Smeltzer ordered a pre-sentence investigation and scheduled a sentencing hearing July 15 at 2 p.m.
Bail initially was set at $5,000 cash in July of 2020 but was subsequently amended to $500 cash.
The two Class C felonies carry a potential penalty of a fine of up to $100,000 and/or up to 40 years in prison on each count.
Knuth remained in custody on the day of the plea hearing.
Rebecca Merryfield, an investigator with the Dunn County Sheriff’s Department, was the only witness called to testify at the preliminary hearing in July of 2020.
Investigator Merryfield based her testimony on her observations of a forensic interview with the alleged victim, who said the sexual assaults began when she was 14 years old.
