Daughter is result of sex assault on 12-year-old
RICHLAND CO.— A Clay County native who is currently serving three years to life in the Illinois Department of Corrections is now asking for visitation with the child that was conceived when he sexually assaulted a 12-year-old Richland County girl.
Burt Wenzel, 26, entered into a plea agreement January 28, 2009, to one count of Predatory Criminal Sexual Assault.
But that was only after state’s attorney David Hyde refused to do his job.
Earned three felonies as a juvenile
Records show that Wenzel, whose family originated from south counties (specifically, the Hardin/Gallatin county area) has been in trouble with the law for the better part of his life.
Sources indicate that he was sentenced to 12 months court supervision in Clay County on November 23, 1998 at age 11 after he was found guilty of Knowingly Damaging Property greater that $300.
Records indicate that due to continuing violations of the terms of his release, Wenzel had his supervision revoked March 19, 2001 and was sentenced to 10 months probation.
On May 15, 2002, at age 15 he was convicted of Burglary which lead to another probation revocation which lead to another 24 month probation sentence and a total of $2,169 in fines and fees in the original property damage case.
On the Burglary charge, Wenzel was sentenced to 60 days home confinement and ordered to complete 100 hours of public service and pay $546.51 in fines and fees.
At one point Wenzel was serving a third period of probation for a second Burglary conviction costing someone another $113 in court costs.
In total, Wenzel had earned himself three felonies as a juvenile.
Richland convictions, Hyde inaction
In Richland County, Wenzel’s first conviction was October 2, 2008 when he was found guilty of growing 5-20 marijuana plants and, despite his history, was sentenced to 12 months conditional discharge and ordered to pay $585 in fines and fees.
However, Wenzel never paid the first penny in that case and was allowed to remain out on the street, free to molest little girls.
Then in June of 2008 Wenzel was charged with the Burglary that earned him a three-year prison sentence, which turned out to be not even 18 months.
By the time he was shipped to department of corrections, Wenzel had already sexually assaulted the 12-year-old and Hyde knew it.
According to sources, Hyde didn’t worry about the sexual assault because a) he said he had other things to do and b) he knew he could arrest Wenzel as he was getting out of prison, which he ultimately did in May 2009.
On May 1, Hyde had Wenzel arrested at Taylorville Correctional Center and transported directly to the Richland County Jail.
“That guy molested that little girl because David Hyde didn’t do his job,” said a friend of the family. “Now, he won’t even take the time to handle the case himself or really even talk to the family.”
Contact through third party
As part of his prison sentence Wenzel was forbidden from contacting his victim by any means, including a third party.
According to a March 26, 2014 petition for an Order of Protection, Wenzel’s victim (identified here as KS) claimed that she had been contacted.
“Burt sexually assaulted me when I was 12 years old. Burt was 21 and (name deleted, hereafter referred to as ND—ed.) was born from that. Burt was informed that he could have no contact with me or ND. He has sent letters before and the prison stopped the letters,” KS wrote in her petition. “Burt was in jail here in Richland County. He wrote a letter to Sara Farmer about me and asked Sara for her to help contact me. During the month of March he has sent three letters to (ND) at our address. He also wrote a letter in March to my boss, shortly after he got that letter I was fired.”
The Order of Protection (OP) was granted on the same day the petition was made.
Doesn’t believe he is a danger
In a hand-written response from prison, Wenzel claimed no abuse was presented during the OP hearing.
“KS claims abuse because I had written my daughter three letters,” Wenzel wrote. “Writing my daughter and telling her ‘Daddy loves you’ is not any form of abuse.”
Wenzel went on to say that since KS has identified him as the man who sexually abused her, and thus establishing by this his parentage that ND was his daughter, he demands to exercise his parental rights.
He asked that he be granted the right to contact the four-year-old, claiming the contact would in no way “harm my daughter’s mental, moral and emotional health.”
Wants 4-year-old brought to prison for visitation
Wenzel demands the court reverse its decision to deny him visitation and allow the following:
“That a 3rd partie (sic) bring my daughter up to see me twice a month here at the jail where there is no contact visits
“That two people my daughter is very comfortable with has agreed to be a 3rd partie (sic) during visits and bring and transport my daughter to me.”
Wenzel identified the two individuals as Katie Farmer and Sara Farmer.
He was being held at Pontiac Prison, approximately four hours from Richland County, and is currently being housed back in the Richland County jail pending further court hearings. The whole case is a highly unusual one, but just about par for the course in Richland County, where weird and bizarre cases rule the day, especially where OPs come into play. Should the judge in the case rule that Wenzel can have visitation, it’s a blow to those who are victims of sexual assault of the nature that Wenzel perpetrated. Should the judge rule that visitation can be denied on the basis of the no-contact order, however, it sets up a precedent for father’s rights throughout the state, and can have a chilling effect on those even in different circumstances other than an incarceration setting.
If Wenzel has indeed violated the no-contact order issued upon him for his victim as a part of sentencing, it’s incumbent upon Richland County prosecutor David Hyde to consider that violation in within the criminal realm and prosecute accordingly.
Whether that will take place or not remains to be seen; Wenzel is next in court for a status hearing May 8 in Richland.