ANTIGO — Last Tuesday, a bond reduction motion made by a man who stands accused of sexually assaulting his daughter as a child was denied by Langlade County Court Commissioner Brent DeBord.
On June 12, a cash bond of $100,000 was set for Steven Strugalla, 68, who is being charged with seven felonies, including first-degree sexual assault of a child, incest with a child, and child enticement.
The victim has accused him of routinely sexually assaulting her when she lived with him as a child in the Town of Wolf River. According to the criminal complaint, the assaults occurred at their home or on the walk home from a tavern Strugalla often brought her along to.
The assault continued after Strugalla and the alleged victim moved to a residence in White Lake, up until she was roughly 17 years old, when she said Strugalla ceased drinking.
Strugalla requested his bond be lowered to $10,000, though he failed to provide reasons to rationalize the reduction.
“Put me on house arrest if you have to,” Strugalla said at the hearing. “I’m not going to go no place.”
District Attorney Kelly Hays, however, said if Stugalla’s bond was reduced and he was temporarily released, he could interfere with the state’s case.
“There is a high concern of that here considering that these accusations rest primarily and almost completely with the victim’s statement, who is a trusted family member, and so very influenced in that way,” Hays said.
Hays also described Strugalla as a flight risk because of the large potential prison sentence he faces.
“That alone I believe would contribute to a potential flight risk,” she said. “I will also note that in addition to flight, I do have concerns [because] he has made comments in the past about committing suicide if she were to report this to law enforcement. And so in addition to flight, I also have concerns that he will make himself unavailable in court with that as well.”
DeBord described the case as one that could prove complex for attorneys on either side to navigate because of the amount of time that had passed since the alleged crimes, a factor that impacts the amount of prison time Stugalla could potentially face.
“This is an old case with a quite different penalty structure than what we use nowadays, so I think it will take an attorney of I think some sophistication or ability to discern what the exposure here is,” DeBord said. “The exposure, though, is significant, whether under old law, truth of sentencing one, or truth of sentencing two. The exposure here is extraordinarily significant.”
DeBord told Strugalla to reach out to an attorney, who he said could arrange for another bond hearing for the 68-year-old and could possibly “present things to the court Mr. Strugalla didn’t know he could or how to,” but did deny the reduction motion.
“We are only dealing with allegations,” DeBord said. “The court keeps that at the absolute centermost of its mind when setting bond. It’s not the court’s desire to restrict liberty improperly. Liberty is the essence of America and what it means to be an American, and the court must tread cautiously when infringing on liberty in any way. However, in the totality of the circumstances here, the flight risk is extraordinarily significant. Even though there are ties here, this is a case that a reasonable person, it can be expected, would disappear somewhere. That disappearance may be in the form of leaving. That disappearance may be in the form of some other action. Again, at this point, the court sees no reason for the bond to be less than $100,000.”
Strugalla’s next appearance in the Langlade County Courthouse is scheduled for August 19 at 1:30 p.m.
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