Appeals court rejects sex offender placement in Kenosha County

The Court of Appeals on Wednesday blocked the placement of a Racine County sex offender in neighboring Kenosha County, where residents and officials protested the plan to have the man live in Wheatland.

The court found that the Racine County judge who approved the placement plan for Michael L. McGee failed to follow provisions of a February 2016 state law intended to make it harder to approve supervised release of sex offenders outside their home counties.

Judge Paul Reilly wrote the 15-page decision for a panel that included judges Mark Gundrum and Lisa Neubauer, all from the Waukesha-based District II division of the appellate court.

The law had required offenders to stay in their home county absent "good cause" to select another county. Racine County Circuit Judge Allan Torhorst found that the fact there was no suitable spot in Racine County was such "good cause" to place McGee in Wheatland.

RELATED:Budget move would let Wisconsin sex offenders live closer to schools, day care centers

Kenosha County found out and intervened to block the placement, noting McGee's intended residence was within 1,500 feet of a bike trail used by children and near a family with a 1-year-old child.

Torhorst denied Kenosha County's request to stay his decision while the county appealed. The county then won an emergency stay from the Court of Appeals.

The court found that Torhorst should not have relied on the Department of Health Services' assertion that no appropriate housing existed in Racine County since the DHS staffer responsible for monitoring locations had resigned three months earlier.  

Additionally, Torhorst should have notified several Kenosha County agencies once DHS proposed placing McGee there.

DHS said it had notified Kenosha County officials about whether McGee's intended residence was suitable for a sex offender. Local officials said they were not notified who specifically DHS intended to place, and would have said the site was not appropriate if they knew it was for McGee.

McGee, 54, was convicted of a 1987 burglary and sexual assault, paroled in 1992, then charged with another sexual assault. The charges were dismissed and McGee instead was revoked from parole and sent back to prison. Before his release, he was found to be a violent sexual offender in 2003 and committed to indefinite civil commitment under Chapter 980.

He sought supervised release under 980 in 2015 and was found to meet the standards for monitored community placement. Torhorst signed off on DHS's placement plan in May 2016, prompting huge protests in support of neighbors in Wheatland opposed to McGee living nearby under supervision. The protests attracted extensive television coverage.

McGee had filed a cross-appeal in the case, claiming Torhorst should never have let Kenosha County intervene. The appellate court denied that claim, affirming Torhorst's decision to let Kenosha County into the case.

According to the state's sex offender registry, McGee is living in Tomah, in Monroe County.