20-year sentence ordered for child sex assault

A Suring man has been sentenced to 20 years in prison, followed by 10 years of extended supervision, after being convicted of the repeated sexual assault of the same child.

Jonathan M. Hanson, 40, Suring, regularly sexually assaulted the child from the time she was 13 years old until she was 15, when she told a family member who contacted police. The assaults took place from approximately September 2018 to October 2020.

Oconto County Judge Michael T. Judge’s sentence March 21 was more severe than requested either by District Attorney Edward Burke, who recommended 15 years in prison, or defense attorney Bradley Schraven, who asked for a nine- or 10-year term of initial confinement.

“This is a horrible case,” Judge said as he began his sentencing remarks, acknowledging a letter from the girl’s mother describing the trauma that the assaults created for the victim and her family. “The type of harm that he has caused this child is extreme emotional harm that she and her family are going to have to deal with probably for the remainder of their lives. It’s always going to be there. It’s always going to be something that’s going to bring them back to these horrible times and conduct of this defendant.”

Rachel Race, Oconto County victim witness coordinator, read a statement from the girl’s mother and aunt that said their family was turned upside-down when the assaults were unveiled in February 2021.

“A man we trusted and considered family had hurt our child. … Through our pain, we rallied around our daughter, putting on brave faces to stay strong for her, shedding our tears in private away from little eyes,” the family wrote. “A wall was put up around our family that probably will never be taken down. We will never trust people again — that is destroyed — because of John. He has taken away every safe feeling our family had. We mistrust people and consider everyone a potential threat.”

The victim, once a straight-A student, active in church and school, now is a troubled young woman “who isolates herself from everyone because she is afraid of being hurt by someone she loves and trusts,” the family wrote.

Coming forward was the hardest thing she ever had to do, the women said. “Don’t let her courage be for nothing.”

Burke said he gave credit to Hanson for resolving the case so the girl doesn’t have to testify, but that doesn’t change the seriousness of his crimes.

“We have to protect our children from people like Mr. Hanson,” Burke said. “He basically used this young lady regardless of what impact it had on her life. She’s afraid to come out of her bedroom. She’s afraid to live her life now because of something a much older person did to her on numerous occasions … What we have here is a person who’s going to be healing for a period of time.”

Hanson even denied the acts to a Wisconsin Department of Corrections investigator who profiled the case for sentencing recommendation, Burke said.

In arguing for a less severe sentence, Schraven said it’s not unusual for sex offenders to deny culpability after making a confession.

“All the research that we have says offenders, especially offenders like Mr. Hanson, acknowledge responsibility during interviews with law enforcement,” Schraven said. “And when they are denying later on, it’s because they recognize the shame of what they’ve done.”

Hanson answered all of the judge’s questions quietly with “yes” or “no” and declined an opportunity to make a statement in his own defense.

Judge said while Hanson has sometimes admitted what he did, he has never shown remorse.

“What we really need from this defendant, quite frankly, in addition to his so-called being cooperative, is some remorse, some repentance, some recognition that, ‘What I did was wrong, and I’m ready to answer for it for the rest of my life,’” Judge said. “We have not heard that. We have not heard any ‘I’m sorries’ at all. As far as I’m concerned, that would be the start of this defendant’s rehabilitation.”

The judge said 20 years in prison would be “the minimum this defendant must serve in order to receive the sex offender treatment he requires.” He ordered Hanson to have no contact with the victim or her family, to have no unsupervised contact with any minor or use of the internet without his corrections agent’s prior approval and to enter the sex offender program.

He was given credit for 383 days already served in jail since his arrest.

Hanson pleaded no contest on Nov. 10 to repeated sexual assault of the same child under age 13, and the original criminal complaint said the attacks began when the girl was 12 years old. Burke and Schraven said the pre-sentence investigation determined that she was already 13, and so a revised complaint was submitted charging him with repeated sexual assault of the same child under age 16.

Judge vacated Hanson’s previous plea and accepted a no contest plea to the revised charge before proceeding to sentencing.