A man set to be sentenced for a child sex crime was arrested in court after his victim disclosed he had been messaging her on Facebook.
Richard J. Dahl, 44, Bowler, was charged Feb. 19 with felony intimidation of a victim, solicitation of intimidation of a witness and three counts of felony bail jumping.
Dahl was convicted of a child sex crime on Oct. 13, 2015.
According to the October 2014 criminal complaint, Dahl sexually assaulted a 13-year-old girl in 2007 in the town of Dayton. She told her mother five years later and charges were filed in October 2014.
At Dahl’s October 2015 plea hearing, Judge Vicki Clussman ordered a pre-sentence investigation and initially scheduled sentencing for Jan. 6.
On Dec. 14, 2015, the Department of Corrections agent assigned to conduct the PSI sent a letter to Clussman indicating Dahl had missed his scheduled interview and she had been unable to contact him. She later learned Dahl was being held in Shawano County jail for failure to pay a fine from 2014. Clussman rescheduled the sentencing for Feb. 16.
Dahl had been released from custody in Waupaca County on a $5,000 signature bond with the condition that he have no contact with the victim or her family.
At the Feb. 16 hearing, the victim, who is now an adult, told Waupaca Police Officer Nicole Hahn that Dahl sent her three Facebook messages at 12:25 a.m. that day.
The messages read “I got proof” and “I will find out.”
The night before his sentencing, Dahl allegedly posted a message on his Facebook page that said, “Facing prison time who is backing me?” and “I hope u have nightmares about ur lies kiddo.”
At sentencing, Assistant District Attorney Veronica Isherwood informed Clussman about the messages.
Isherwood asked that Dahl, who had been released from custody when the sexual assault charges were filed in 2014, be taken into custody and his $5,000 signature bond be revoked.
Clussman revoked Dahl’s bond, ordered him to be placed in custody on a $50,000 cash bond, and rescheduled sentencing for April 5.
Dahl yelled, “I hope you’re happy!” at the victim and her parents as police were escorting him out of the courtroom and to jail, according to the new criminal complaint,