State v. Ward

1999

Court: Wisconsin Court of Appeals

Facts: A couple in the trailer park has neighbor girls over for pizza, sleep-overs, porn and sexual assault. The assaulting is done by the man, but the woman is also charged with failing to protect a child from sexual assault.

Posture: Convicted at trial, appealing.

Issue: Sufficiency of the evidence. Also, she shouldn't have to pay for her own DNA test.

Holding: She's right about the DNA test, but the evidence was sufficient.

Rule: If the person legally responsible for the welfare of a child "makes use of" another person, who then fails to prevent sexual assault of that child, the other person is at fault.

Reasoning: As long as the state proved that Wad was a "person responsible" (by being used), the conviction can stand. A jury could reasonably find this.

Dicta: