Probation for 3 young men accused of sexually assaulting girl in Oak Creek park
Dallas Menhorn
OAK CREEK -- Two Hales Corners brothers convicted in connection with the sexual assault of a teenage girl in Oak Creek in September 2018 were sentenced to probation Tuesday, July 14. A third man previously sentenced in the case was ordered to serve probation plus jail time.
Austin and Dallas Menhorn, both 19, each pleaded guilty in February to two misdemeanor charges -- intentionally contribute to the delinquency of a child, and disorderly conduct. Both were sentenced to serve a year in the House of Correction -- which was stayed, and they were instead placed on probation; Austin for 2 years, and Dallas for 18 months.
A third man convicted in the case, Kyle Barstow, 19, of Peshtigo, pleaded guilty in September 2019 to one count of intentionally contributing to delinquency (felony), as party to a crime and one count of fourth-degree sexual assault, as party to a crime. In January, he was sentenced to serve 2 years in prison and 2 years' extended supervision, which was stayed, and he was instead placed on probation for 3 years -- ordered to serve 12 months' conditional time in the House of Correction starting Feb. 18. On the second conviction, he was sentenced to serve an additional 6 days in the House of Correction.
Kyle Barstow
According to the criminal complaint, the alleged victim in this case spoke with Oak Creek police on Sept. 24, 2018 -- she wanted to report a sexual assault that took place the previous year. The girl (who was 16 at the time of the alleged crime) told police "she ran away from her mom and went to the park behind Target (Oak Leaf Park)" in Oak Creek. When the girl got to the park, she saw four males. They included the three named suspects as well as a fourth teen (who was 15 at the time of the alleged crime and was being held in the juvenile detention center following this crime. The girl knew all of them from school.
The complaint said at some point, the unnamed teen demanded a sex act from the girl. When the girl said, "No," the unnamed teen replied saying, "What would you do if someone forced you?" The complaint said the teen then "instructed the defendants to pick up (the girl) and throw her into the river that flows by West Puetz Road by the railroad tracks" if she did not perform the sex act. The complaint said the victim complied -- and the teens charged in this crime "videotaped and photographed" the incident.
Afterwards, the complaint said the girl "wanted to go back home and talk to her mom," but the unnamed teen "grabbed her arm and hit her in the face, telling (the girl) that she had to stay with him." The complaint also said the unnamed teen took a coat hanger from the girl's backpack "and put it over her head and around her neck." The complaint said the unnamed teen said "he would choke her if she didn't follow him around for the rest of the day." The girl complied, the complaint said -- and at the end of the day, the unnamed teen's mother picked up him and the girl went back to her house.
Austin Menhorn, one of the brothers, told police that he "didn't agree with anything they were doing, but if he told them to stop, they would not listen to him."
The girl told police "she was reporting this now because there are pictures surfacing" of the incident.
