By Tracy Ouellette
Editor
and Patricia Bogumil
staff writer
James Barnak, 74, Waterford, has been charged with repeated sexual assault, false imprisonment and strangulation and suffocation of a 14-year-old East Troy girl.
The felony charges came down in both Walworth and Racine counties last week after a joint-jurisdictional investigation between the Village of East Troy and Village of Waterford Police Departments.
Barnak was charged with four felonies Nov. 12 in Walworth County Circuit Court – child enticement, a Class D felony; child sexual exploitation, a Class C felony; false imprisonment, a Class H felony; and strangulation and suffocation, a Class H felony.
Barnak was charged Nov. 11 on a Class C felony in Racine County for at least three alleged violations of first- or second-degree sexual assault.
According to a release from the Racine County Sheriff’s Office, members of the county’s Criminal Investigations Bureau executed a search warrant Nov. 10 at Barnak’s residence on Park Drive in the Village of Waterford.
The warrant was developed through what is described as “an ongoing and extensive investigation involving Barnak,” whom investigators suspected had committed crimes against a juvenile over an extended period of time.
East Troy Police Chief Alan Boyes said his department had been gathering evidence against Barnak and invited the Waterford and Racine County investigators to a forensic interview with the victim at the Walworth County Child Advocacy Center on Nov. 10.
Based on the initial investigation and execution of the warrant, probable cause was established for an arrest; Barnak was taken into custody without incident and transported to the Racine County Jail.
The both the Racine and Walworth County Sheriff’s Office’s say investigation into the matter is ongoing.
According to the Racine County criminal complaint filed Nov. 11:
East Troy police contacted an investigator with the Racine County Sheriff’s Office Nov. 8. The victim told police she was at her home in East Troy Nov. 7 when Barnak came over to fix her computer, according to the complaint.
The girl alleges in the complaint that Barnak told her to take off her shirt, posed her in a sexually suggestive pose and took pictures of her. She states in the complaint that she was going to earn money for doing this. The Walworth County criminal complaint, filed Nov. 12, also states the victim told police Barnak put “blue tape” over her mouth.
The girl alleges in the complaint that Barnak tied her up with a rope, blindfolded her, straddled her and began choking her until she felt she was going to black out. The girl alleges in the complaint that after she refused Barnak’s requests to “play” with her and “show more skin,” Barnak untied her, removed the blindfold and said: “I’m leaving now.”
The girl alleges in the complaint that Barnak has been touching her inappropriately at his home in Waterford since she was 8 or 9 years old, including touching her breasts and pelvic area.
The girl alleges in the complaint that Barnak took a sexual video of her dancing in her bra and underwear, showed her videos of nude girls dancing, “French kissed” her in a closet of his basement, exposed his buttocks to her and asked her if she wanted to see his penis, to which she replied that she did not.
When interviewed, Barnak admitted to tying up the victim at her home in East Troy Nov. 7, blindfolding her eyes, taking photos of her, asking her to remove her clothing and grabbing her around the neck and squeezing, according to the criminal complaint.
He admitted to kissing the child on the lips and touching her breasts in Waterford, offering the girl money to remove her clothing while in East Troy, and explaining that he had an arrangement with her to pay her to remove her clothing on another date, according to the complaint.
Barnak admitted he took a video of the child in her bra and underwear and said there is a picture on his computer of the child tied up from his Nov. 7 encounter with her, according to the complaint.
According to the Walworth County criminal complaint, investigators located a video on a computer seized from Barnak’s home, which shows the victim blindfolded and tied up on the floor.
Barnak admitted to investigators that he targeted the child because she was vulnerable due to her family situation, according to the complaint.
Barnak stated that he knew what he was doing was wrong, according to the Racine County complaint.
Barnak made an initial appearance in Racine County Court Nov. 11, when probable cause was found that he committed the offenses with which he is charged. A $25,000 cash bond was set, with conditions that Barnak have no contact with the girl or her family and no contact with anyone under age 18.
After Barnak paid his bond in Racine County on Nov. 12, he was released and went home, according to Boyes, because the Walworth County warrant for his arrest wasn’t ready.
Barnak was taken into custody by Walworth County Sheriff’s Department on Nov. 13 and taken to Walworth County Jail.
Barnak appeared in Walworth County Circuit Court Nov. 13 and was charged with the four felony counts. Barnak remains in custody in Walworth County Jail on a $100,000 bond.
Barnak is next due in Racine County Court on Nov. 20 for a preliminary hearing. If convicted in Racine County, he faces a maximum fine of $100,000, 40 years in prison, or both.
Barnak is set to appear next in Walworth County Court on Nov. 26 for a preliminary hearing. If convicted in Walworth County, he faces a maximum fine of $220,000 and/or 77 years in prison.
