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August 24, 2005
Menasha boy to reconsider deal
A Menasha boy charged as an adult in two violent, sexually motivated incidents might reconsider a plea agreement after a psychological evaluation indicated he has a mental disorder.
Thomas J. Geske, 15, appeared in Winnebago County Circuit Court Tuesday morning for a hearing at which he was expected to plead no contest to charges including child enticement, sexual assault, child abuse and substantial battery related to two Menasha attacks last summer.
Geske was 14 at the time of the attacks.
Defense lawyer Jennifer Thompson asked for adjournment Monday after receiving the results of a fifth mental evaluation – the first that found Geske’s actions may have been the result of a mental disorder. She said she wanted the teenager to have some time to consider his options before accepting a deal offered by Winnebago County District Attorney William Lennon in July.
Thompson ordered the independent evaluation for use in the sentencing phase of the case. Thompson and Geske will now decide whether to use it as the basis for an insanity plea.
The recent examination concluded that Geske suffers from bipolar disorder and that he “could have been suffering from a manic episode” when he committed the assaults, Thompson said.
A criminal complaint filed in April states that on July 28, 2004 Geske charged a woman near a downtown Menasha tavern with knife in hand and attempted to sexually assault her. Geske cut the woman several times, punched her in the head and told her he was going to kill her.
He was also charged in November with two counts of sexual assault, child abuse and child enticement. In August 2004, he concocted a bogus story to get a 14-year-old girl to leave her house before striking her with a rock and sexually assaulting her, according to the criminal complaint.
The plea agreement offered by prosecutors would require Geske to plead no contest to the most serious felonies in each file, along with several other counts. Prosecutors would then recommend a sentence of 25 years of initial confinement followed by 25 years of extended supervision. Geske faces a maximum 189-year prison sentence if convicted of all the charges.
Lennon on Tuesday didn’t object to adjourning the hearing, though he expressed some reservations because Geske’s victims and family members were in the gallery.
“We would urge a rather quick plea date so the victims can put this behind them,” Lennon said.
Judge William Carver scheduled a Sept. 15 hearing to either take Geske’s pleas or determine the next stages in the proceedings.
Posted by Nealus at August 24, 2005 11:43 AM
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