Horse molestation case is driving new interest in harsher penalties
by the Green Bay Press-Gazette
MADISON - Serial horse-molester Sterling Rachwal may have ended up doing everybody a favor.
Thanks to the 54-year-old man’s recent crime spree in Brown County and his sentencing two weeks ago in Brown County Circuit Court, he drew a lot of attention to the inadequacies in Wisconsin’s animal abuse laws, said Melissa Tedrowe, Wisconsin director of the Humane Society of the United States.
Rachwal, who has a record of molesting horses throughout central Wisconsin dating back to the 1980s, was sentenced to two years’ probation earlier this month for two counts of mistreating animals.
That meant for a lot of public comment Thursday at a legislative committee hearing on a bill to bolster the state’s laws.
“Testimony took two hours, and it was a full room,” Tedrowe said. “In a way, Sterling Rachwal did a favor for the state, because he knows the law so well, he was able to give us a crystal clear example of how our law is inadequate.”
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It was a public hearing before the Assembly Criminal Justice & Public Safety Committee, where Rep. Andre Jacque, R-De Pere, introduced a bill that would upgrade animal molestation to a felony.
The bill also would close some of the loopholes that have frustrated prosecutors around the state in trying to put a halt to a problem that is far more widespread than many people realize, Tedrowe said.
“We consider this gold standard legislation,” she said. “It’s comprehensive, closes loopholes and increases the penalty to a felony.”
Among those testifying in favor of the bill were Brown County Assistant District Attorney Dana Johnson and Brown County Sheriff’s Office Deputy Phil Nelson, who worked Rachwal’s case locally. Also testifying were prosecutors and police from some of Rachwal’s older cases.
State police and sheriff’s associations expressed support.
No one spoke specifically against the bill. The closest thing to opposition came from legislators concerned that an entirely new law was being proposed simply because of the actions of one man, Rachwal.
Jacque said Rachwal helped bring the problem to everyone’s attention, including his, but that the problem extends far beyond just him.
“Even after Rachwal was locked up, there was something just outside the immediate area, the same thing, in which, had Rachwal not been locked up, he would have been a suspect,” Jacque said.
The internet shows a vibrant underground community of people marketing animals for sex and related videos, and a market for those things, Tedrowe said.
“This was not just about Sterling Rachwal,” she said. “Thirty or 40 people registered or spoke in favor of the bill and they ranged from horse owners, veterinarians, law enforcement, animal protection groups and ordinary citizens really understanding the strong link between animal abusers and perpetrators of sex crimes against children.”
Jacque said a companion bill has been introduced in the Senate. In the Assembly, the Criminal Justice & Public Safety Committee needs to vote on it, hopefully in the next week or two, and the Assembly leadership would then have to put it up for consideration by the full Assembly.
He expressed hope both Assembly and Senate have time to make it happen in the next few months, before the legislative session ends for the year.
“What we did today was make a case for why this needs to move forward, as disturbing a subject matter as it may be,” Jacque said.