An Oconto man accused of the repeated sexual assault of a young girl agreed Aug. 15 to have his former defense attorney re-appointed to the case.
David SanRoman, 48, had asked that Michael Scholke be allowed to withdraw Aug. 5 even after Oconto County Judge Michael Judge warned that he is not inclined to postpone an Oct. 30 trial.
Scholke is the only candidate on the ballot to become the new Florence County district attorney to succeed Douglas Drexler, who is retiring. At the time, SanRoman agreed that Scholke should step aside as his attorney because of the related time constraints.
At the follow-up hearing Aug. 15, SanRoman acknowledged issues reaching out for new counsel. Judge again advised the defendant that he intends to go forward with the trial because he has to balance the rights of the defendant with those of the alleged victim, who has endured a mistrial and several postponements since charges were first filed four years ago. Scholke has agreed to be reappointed, Judge said.
SanRoman is charged in Oconto County Circuit Court with two counts of first-degree sexual assault of a child under age 13, two counts of first-degree sexual assault of a child under age 12, and one count of second-degree sexual assault of a child, all charging him as a persistent repeater, in connection with incidents that allegedly occurred from 2016 to 2020. He also faces two felony bail jumping charges in connection with incidents that allegedly happened Jan. 17, 2020, and Aug. 24, 2020.
The defendant has been in custody in lieu of $250,000 cash bond since September 2020. The case went to trial in April 2020 but ended with a mistrial after a witness testified about a report that apparently had not been shared with the defense. The re-trial has been postponed four times already, including once when SanRoman asked that a previous attorney be replaced.
SanRoman’s longtime live-in girlfriend, Sarah L. Alberts, was sentenced to 12 years in prison in May 2023 after pleading no contest to a charge of chronic neglect of a child with the consequence that a sexual offense was committed.
According to the criminal complaint, Oconto County authorities were alerted to the allegations when the girl’s father reported text messages between the girl and Alberts about an incident in which SanRoman allegedly tried to have sex with her.
Investigators determined there had been several incidents dating back to 2017, when the girl was 12, and Alberts occasionally kicked him out of the house but kept letting him back in.
wbluhm@newmedia-wi.com
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