After defiantly refusing to come to the courtroom for his own trial the day before, an Oconto man charged with multiple child sexual assaults pleaded guilty Dec. 5 to a single attack.
David SanRoman, 49, is scheduled to be sentenced Dec. 11 for second-degree sexual assault of a child before Oconto County Circuit Judge Michael Judge. As part of a plea agreement, District Attorney Hannah Schuchart said she will recommend that SanRoman serve 15 years in prison, followed by 10 years of extended supervision.
The prosecution also agreed to drop a related charge of the repeated sexual assault of the same child from the time she was 8 years old until Aug. 11, 2020, when the final assault occurred and the girl, then 14, told her friends what had happened.
The girl, now an 18-year-old first-year college student, testified Dec. 4 that she was awakened from her sleep that night by SanRoman — her mother’s boyfriend — groping her and trying to have sex.
She rebuffed the advance but texted four of her friends, she testified. One of the friends told her mother the next morning, and then her father when he came home that afternoon. The father called police, setting in motion a lengthy judicial process.
The father testified Dec. 4 that he warned his daughter that calling the police might cost her the victim’s friendship because she had pledged not to tell, but the daughter replied, “I don’t care; you have to do something.”
The victim also testified that shortly after SanRoman moved in with her mother in 2014, he began abusing her when her mother went to work and he was the only adult in the household. At first he would ask for a massage and reach behind to try to touch her privates, which later escalated to forcing her into oral sex and finally intercourse.
When Schuchart asked how often the attacks would occur, the girl said, “At least weekly.”
She said she was scared to tell anyone because SanRoman had warned her not to, although her mother did walk in on an oral assault at least one, throwing him out of the home but allowing him back at a later date. The mother herself was sentenced to prison after pleading no contest to chronic neglect of a child resulting in a sex offense.
SanRoman’s trial had begun more than an hour late on Dec. 4 after the defendant refused to leave the Oconto County Jail.
While 50 prospective jurors waited in the jury assembly room down the hall, SanRoman sat with his head down on a video feed from the jail. Defense attorney Michael Scholke said his client “does not feel he can emotionally or physically proceed” and said he was on the verge of a nervous breakdown and believed his health was imperiled should he be forced to come to the courtroom.
“To be frank, your honor, he believes that the court is — my words, not his — putting a gun to his head and forcing him into this with an attorney he does not want, or forcing him into a plea that he feels he has not had adequate time to consider,” Scholke said. “At this time I’m making a motion that Mr. SanRoman be examined for competency (to stand trial). I feel that I am compelled to do this, that he is not in a mental state to adequately assist in his own defense.”
Schuchart said the state had called prospective jurors, subpoenaed all its witnesses and prepared them for testimony, and in her opinion with the case over the past year, SanRoman appears to be articulate and able to stand trial.
“I believe that he’s competent, but I understand attorney Scholke’s responsibility to bring that to the court’s attention,” she said. “By all other accounts, the state is ready to proceed today if the court elects to do so.”
As Schuchart described the plea offer that she said had been on the table for six to eight months, for him to plead guilty to Count 2, SanRoman broke his silence and said that Count 2 had been dismissed during an earlier trial that had ended in a mistrial.
“You can’t charge me with a count that’s already been dismissed. How many times do we have to go over this?” SanRoman shouted. “I’m not doing this! Bring me back to my cell; I’m not doing this. Bring me back to my cell; I’m not doing this.”
Scholke tried to explain that at his first trial in April 2022, SanRoman was facing five charges, and Count 2 in the current amended complaint had been Count 4 in the original allegations.
As for the plea offer, “You’d be looking at a maximum of 25 (years in prison) and 15 (years of extended supervision), but the state’s recommendation would be 15 and 10,” Scholke told his client.
“Whatever,” SanRoman said.
Judge said the case has been ongoing for years including the first trial, which ended in a mistrial after it was determined the defense may not have received a crucial piece of discovery.
“At no time was the court concerned as to the competency of Mr. SanRoman during any of those hearings, nor at any time by any of his three attorneys that he has had in this case,” the judge said, ruling that the defendant is competent to stand trial. “This trial is going to proceed today, with or without Mr. SanRoman.”
When Judge asked SanRoman if he would attend the trial in person or over the video feed, the defendant refused to answer and began to pace in the jail video room. He could be heard muttering, “I’m done,” while Judge explained he would be required to read jury instructions that he has the right not to appear at the trial but they should not take his absence into consideration as they consider the evidence presented.
As jury selection proceeded, at least three jurors were excused after saying they could not get past SanRoman’s non-appearance at his own trial.
“If he’s not here, he must be guilty,” one man said.
A jury of seven women and six men, including one potential alternate, was seated after about an hour of questioning, but one woman interrupted Schuchart’s opening statement to say she was physically ill.
Out of the hearing of the other jurors, Judge explained that the woman was upset by the descriptions of what had been done to the 8-year-old girl. He excused her from further duty, and the trial proceeded with the other 12 jurors.
The panel heard testimony from five witnesses, including the victim and her mother, before adjourning for the day around 4 p.m. After Scholke met with SanRoman the next morning, the second day of the trial was canceled and the plea hearing was held.
Judge scheduled sentencing for 3 p.m. Dec. 11.
wbluhm@newmedia-wi.com
Child assault trial ends with plea deal
