Evidence in a child sexual assault case was left untested for more than four years in a popular Northwoods vacation town, allowing a suspected molester to elude criminal charges until last month.
The case started in December 2013 when a mother reported to Minocqua police that her 2-year-old son might have been molested. Her son described feeling pain from an unnamed "doctor" who "put his belly up his butt," she said.
A nurse collected forensic samples from the toddler's body for DNA tests.
But according to case records obtained by USA TODAY NETWORK-Wisconsin, Minocqua police put the evidence in storage and ended their investigation after four days.
The case remained idle until state officials asked Minocqua police last year to submit the samples for DNA testing. The state had received
millions in grants to pay for DNA tests and hoped the effort would help catch rapists.
The Minocqua case gained steam in June this year after the state reported finding an adult man's DNA on a swab of the toddler's body. Further analysis of the same swab reported finding the man's sperm.
On Nov. 30, Oneida County prosecutors charged the man, Brandon Darnick, 26, with first-degree sexual assault of a child. Darnick has pleaded not guilty. He could face decades in prison if convicted.
In 2013, Minocqua police shelved the forensic samples that led to Darnick's charges due to a "lack of evidence" in the case, according to a police log. Minocqua police had called the toddler's complaints "difficult to understand" in 2013 and noted that a nurse had found no signs of injury or abuse.
Police also noted in 2013 that Darnick admitted to being alone with the boy in a bedroom — but other adults were in the home during the same period.