By Shereen Siewert
A former flight paramedic who relocated to North Carolina was convicted by a jury on Friday of repeatedly sexually assaulting two young boys who lived in a nearby apartment while he was living in Schofield.
Michael “Kevin” Justice, 45, was charged April 14, 2017 in Marathon County Circuit Court, months before being extradited from his North Carolina home. During a motions hearing early Monday just before the trial launched, Circuit Judge LaMont Jacobson amended the charges against Justice, eliminating four of 10 counts. After deliberating for about two and a half hours, a jury convicted Justice of two counts of repeated sexual assault of the same child with at least three violations of first-degree sexual assault; two counts of child enticement; and two counts of causing a child younger than 13 to view or listen to a sex act.
Everest Metro detectives launched an investigation in March 2017 with forensic interviews of two boys who told police Justice abused them multiple times between Jan. 1, 2013 and Aug. 31, 2014 in his Schofield apartment. According to the criminal complaint, the boys’ parents would leave them with Justice, a neighbor they trusted, while they went shopping. But while Justice was caring for the children, he forced them to watch sexually explicit videos on a computer and would then act out scenes with the boys.
Justice told the boys not to tell their parents or he would “go to prison,” according to the complaint.
During testimony on Thursday, Justice denied the accusations, insisting that the only time the children were in his bedroom were times the boys played with collectibles. He admitted to watching sexually explicit videos, but told the jury he only watched them by himself. Justice also told the jury he watched the boys in his own home rather than their home because he was most comfortable working in his apartment.
Justice is a former EMT who was central region manager for a medical helicopter operation in central Wisconsin. Prior to his role in Wisconsin, he was a longtime chief flight paramedic in North Carolina. After leaving Wisconsin, Justice moved back to North Carolina to take a job as a public safety educator at Lenoir Community College. He was arrested in July 2017 and extradited to Wisconsin.
After the jury reached its verdict, Judge Jacobson ordered a presentencing investigation and revoked Justice’s $20,000 cash bond. A date for sentencing has not yet been set.
