By Shereen Siewert
A 28-year-old Marshfield man accused of tying a young girl up with duct tape, assaulting her on multiple occasions and photographing the assaults was sentenced this month in Wausau to five years in prison.
Matthew Kinas was convicted of child sexual exploitation in May, along with a charge of possessing child pornography, after pleading no contest to the charges. But prior to his scheduled June sentencing, Circuit Judge Suzanne O’Neill heard a motion from Kinas’ attorney, asking to withdraw his no contest pleas for reasons that remain unclear.
In a no contest plea, a defendant does not admit or deny guilt but agrees not to contest the facts behind the charge, avoiding a factual admission of guilt. This leads to a conviction. By pleading no contest in a criminal action, the defendant gains another benefit—namely, that he or she avoids having a guilty plea used against them in another cause of action, such as a civil suit for damages.
Ultimately, on Aug. 18, Kinas appeared at a hearing, during which he was sentenced to prison. Court records show that during the hearing attorneys on both sides discussed an additional complaint filed in Wood County in 2022, which resulted in four charges of child sexual exploitation being filed against him. The Wood County charges will be dismissed as part of an agreement in Marathon County, according to online court records.
An investigation launched after a witness reported discovering the images on Kinas’ Google Drive account, according to the criminal complaint. Both photos and video files were located by investigators and involved a child who was between 5 and 6 years old at the time of the alleged assaults. Another image file involved a child that was 11 years old at the time the photo was taken. Police say Kinas was not a stranger to the victims.
In addition to the initial confinement in prison, Kinas will spend 10 years on extended supervision. He was given 536 days credit for time served and was remanded to the Wisconsin Prison System for processing.
Kinas will also be a lifetime sex offender registrant.
