Former Milwaukee Children's Choir director gets probation
MILWAUKEE - The former Milwaukee Children's Choir director has been sentenced to probation after he pleaded guilty to contributing to the delinquency of a child.
In Court:
Court records show 40-year-old Marco Melendez reached a plea deal in which charges of child enticement and third-degree sexual assault were dismissed.
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The backstory:
According to a criminal complaint, the now-adult victim told police he joined the Milwaukee Children's Choir in 2013. He said Melendez was the director and would "make inappropriate comments to the boys in the class" about "hooking up with guys" and about the choir members' "sex lives."
The victim told police Melendez would periodically give him rides. Per the complaint, the victim said Melendez had given him a ride approximately 100 times, and 80 of those instances involved Melendez inappropriately touching the victim.
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In later years, as they had gotten to know each other, the victim told police Melendez would invite him and others over to his Washington Heights home to watch movies and drink alcohol. There, too, the victim said Melendez would touch him inappropriately. In 2017, while still a minor, the victim said Melendez offered to perform a sex act on him.
Melendez told the victim not to tell anyone, per the complaint, because he said it would ruin his career.
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Police spoke to another person, who the victim said was a member of the choir. According to the complaint, that person said Melendez would "talk about sex to the boys and discuss childhood experiences and being ‘gay.'" He would also text members of the choir in a group chat and invite them over to drink alcohol. The person also said Melendez encouraged the victim to "get naked" on one occasion when everyone was drinking. He estimated there were two-to-five shots of liquor in the mixed drinks Melendez provided.
Melendez left Milwaukee Children's Choir, which no longer exists, in 2017.
The Source: Information in this report is from the Milwaukee County District Attorney's Office and Wisconsin Circuit Court.