By Shereen Siewert
A Wausau-area man who spent four years in prison for prior sex offenses involving children will head to trial in October, more than two years after new charges were filed against him.
Martin R. Raatz, 27, was charged in July 2022 with first-degree sexual assault of a child younger than 13, after several neighbor girls reported inappropriate touching on multiple occasions. He has been jailed on a cash bond since his arrest.
This is the third child sex case filed against Raatz in Wisconsin, with the first dating back to 2015. Then, Raatz, who lives in Weston, was convicted of repeated first-degree sexual assault of a child and was given a withheld sentence for seven years of probation. But 18 months later Raatz was convicted again, this time of having sex with a child age 16 or older, court records show. In March 2017 Circuit Judge Mike Moran revoked Raatz’s probation and sentenced him to four years in prison followed by eight years of extended supervision. Raatz was also required to register as a sex offender.
Raatz unsuccessfully petitioned for a sentence adjustment in 2019 and Wisconsin Dept. of Corrections records show Raatz was on extended supervision and was prohibited from contact with children when the alleged incidents happened, involving girls ranging from 5 to 10 years old.
Because he is on extended supervision, he could be returned to prison for an additional eight years if his probation in the 2015 case is again revoked. Court records show prosecutors are seeking to place the defendant on lifetime supervision, as the charge carries a serious sex offense provision and repeater enhancer.
A judge ordered a $50,000 cash bond for Raatz, who remains behind bars. A four-day trial is set to begin Oct. 7 with a status hearing in September.
You are advised that a charge is merely an accusation and that a defendant is presumed innocent until and unless proven guilty.
