By LeAnn R. Ralph
MENOMONIE — A 40-year-old Wheeler woman found guilty on seven felonies related to child sexual assault has been sentenced to 40 years in prison and 16 years of extended supervision.
Michelle S. Englin appeared in Dunn County Circuit Court for a sentencing hearing before Judge James Peterson on April 16.
The Dunn County Judicial Center is essentially closed to the public because of the COVID-19 pandemic, and while many court hearings have been rescheduled to June, other court hearings are being conducted by videoconferencing with the videos posted on Dunn County’s YouTube channel or in person with video of the hearing posted to YouTube.
Englin appeared in Judge Peterson’s courtroom with her attorney, Francis Rivard, for the hour and a half sentencing hearing.
Dunn County District Attorney Andrea Nodolf also was present in the courtroom.
Englin was convicted on seven of 11 felonies following a jury trial in January.
The felonies on which Englin was found guilty included two counts of second degree sexual assault of a child, two counts of neglecting a child, and failure to prevent mental harm to a child.
The four counts on which Englin was found not guilty included child enticement with sexual contact and first degree sexual assault of a child.
Englin’s sexual assault victims were a teenaged boy and a toddler.
Nodolf asked for the maximum sentence of 40 years.
Nothing is more serious than the sexual assault of children, and Michelle Englin did nothing to protect the children or stop the sexual abuse, she said.
The pre-sentence investigation (PSI) indicated Michelle Englin shows no emotion about her crimes but shows emotion because she does not want to go to prison, Nodolf said.
Nothing prior
Rivard said Michelle Englin had zero prior offenses, not even a traffic ticket, and has not done harm to the community for the past 40 years.
Michelle Englin was a victim of her husband, Wayne, and would have done whatever Wayne told her to do, Rivard said.
Wayne Englin was manipulative and substance dependent, and Michelle was essentially confined to the home for the past 20 years with no friends, he said.
Wayne Englin pleaded guilty in Dunn County Circuit Court June 13, 2019, 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.
Wayne Englin initially was charged with 30 felonies related to child sexual assault and child pornography.
Judge Peterson dismissed the remaining 27 felonies but ordered them read into the record for sentencing.
Wayne Englin was sentenced to 50 years in prison and 15 years of extended supervision by Judge Peterson on August 27, 2019.
Michelle Englin was subject to the “whims and direction of Wayne,” Rivard told the court.
Rivard asked Judge Peterson to sentence Michelle Englin to five years of initial confinement and 10 years of extended supervision.
Sentencing
Four of the seven felonies carry a maximum penalty of 40 years in prison for each felony, and the maximum possible sentence for the seven of the 11 felonies for which Michelle Englin was convicted is 197.5 years, Judge Peterson said.
Forty years indicates the seriousness of the crimes and indicates the state legislature’s desire to protect children, he said.
Judge Peterson said he did not view Michelle Englin as an innocent victim and does not believe she has been truthful.
And while Michelle Englin is not a sexual predator in the way Wayne Englin is a sexual predator, she was still found guilty by a jury of the sexual assaults of
Sentencing
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vulnerable children, he said.
“When you talk about this case, it’s horrible, horrible, horrible,” Judge Peterson said.
The PSI recommended 26 years of initial confinement in prison with 12 years of extended supervision. The state is asking for 40 years of initial confinement with 16 years of extended supervision, and the defense is asking for five years of initial confinement with 10 years of extended supervision, the judge noted.
Judge Peterson granted Michelle Englin 344 days of credit for time served in the Dunn County Jail and sentenced her to 10 years of initial confinement, to be served consecutively, on the two counts of second degree sexual assault of a child, along with four years of extended supervision on each count.
On three other counts, including failure to prevent mental harm to a child, Judge Peterson sentenced Englin to four years of initial confinement and two years of extended supervision on each count, with two counts to be served concurrently to each other but consecutive to the other counts.
On each of the two counts of neglecting a child, Judge Peterson sentenced Englin to six years of initial confinement and two years of extended supervision.
The sentences are to be served consecutively for a total of 40 years in prison with 16 years of extended supervision.
Michelle Englin also was ordered to pay $268 in court costs and a $250 DNA surcharge for a total of $518 on each of the seven felony counts.
Englin is to have no unsupervised contact with minors and is to have no contact with the victims.
In addition, Englin is required to register as a sex offender and is to follow any treatment recommendations. She also is not allowed to vote and cannot possess any firearms.
A Dunn County Sheriff’s Department investigator received a tip in March of 2019 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 criminal complaint includes descriptions of 10 pornographic images of what are described as “prepubescent females.” During the execution of a search warrant, 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 lived at the residence.
