Attorney reports lack of cooperation from district attorney and Boyceville police department

By LeAnn R. Ralph

MENOMONIE —  An attorney representing a former Boyceville man charged with child sexual assault has reported that the district attorney’s office and the Boyceville Police Department have been dragging their feet on turning over evidence.

Ted Lopez, 39, appeared in Dunn County Circuit Court with his attorney, Charles S. Huff, before Dunn County Circuit Court Judge Rod Smeltzer December 8.

Huff had filed a motion with the court to obtain evidence from the Dunn County district attorney’s office that Huff would use in preparing a defense for his client.

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 a separate 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.

A preliminary hearing for the Lopez case was held October 13, and Huff said he had been waiting for two months to obtain evidence in the possession of the district attorney.

Huff said he had finally received the evidence (also known as “discovery”) only a few minutes before the court hearing December 8.

Dunn County Assistant District Attorney Holly Wood-Webster is prosecuting the Lopez case, but  Huff said it was not Wood-Webster’s fault that Dunn County District Attorney Andrea Nodolf had not turned over the discovery to him.

It is Nodolf’s job to make sure the discovery is “free-flowing,” Huff said.

Huff also noted he had subpoenaed the Boyceville Police Department twice for police department records but had still not obtained the information.

Bail for Lopez was previously set at $100,000 for one case of alleged child sexual assault and at $10,000 for a separate case of child sexual assault.

During the October 13 hearing, Huff requested that Judge Smeltzer reduce the bail to $50,000, adding that Lopez is a Dunn County resident, has worked “for years,” and has a nine-year-old daughter.

Judge Smeltzer agreed to reduce the bail for Lopez from $100,000 cash to $50,000 cash.

At a November 7 court hearing, Huff requested the bail amount be reduced again and said Lopez’s parents had been able to raise $25,000.

Judge Smeltzer denied the request for $25,000 cash bail.

At the December 8 court hearing, Huff again asked Judge Smeltzer to reduce the bail amount and said Lopez now has an opportunity to work.

Judge Smeltzer said he would not reduce the bail amount December 8 but that he would consider it at the next court hearing.

Lopez is scheduled to appear in Dunn County Circuit Court again January 3.

At a previous court hearing, Judge Smeltzer ordered Lopez to have no contact with the alleged victims who are currently 13 years old and ten years old. The judge also ordered Lopez to have no unsupervised contact with anyone under the age of 18 and no contact with the alleged victims’ residences.

According to the criminal complaint in the most recent of the two cases, 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.

On each of the seven felony counts, Lopez is charged as a repeat offender.

Lopez was convicted of felony possession of marijuana in Barron County in January of 2014 and qualifies as a repeat offender under state law.