I didn't know "deliverence" was filmed in Wisconsin

4th Stites brother is charged with sexual assault


BY Sarah Millard • Herald Times Reporter • June 2, 2009

MANITOWOC — Thomas M. Stites, 25, of Francis Creek, made his initial appearance Monday on a first-degree, sexual-assault-of-a-child charge before the Manitowoc County Circuit Court.
Stites is scheduled for a preliminary hearing at 9:30 a.m. June 9. He remains jailed in lieu of $10,000 bail.
A young girl told law enforcement she was 6 years old when Stites raped her in the spring of 2005, according to a criminal complaint filed Wednesday.
The girl told Manitowoc police detectives Thomas Stites and his brother, Carl J. Stites, 20, of Manitowoc, forced her to have sex with Thomas Stites in order to play video games. Carl Stites held her arms on the ground while Thomas Stites assaulted her, according to the complaint.
An investigation into Carl Stites' role in the assault is continuing, Manitowoc police Capt. Scott Luchterhand said.
Thomas Stites is the sixth Stites family member to be charged with sexual assault-related crimes.
His brother, Michael E. Stites, 38, of Manitowoc, pleaded guilty May 7 to repeatedly sexually assaulting two teenage girls in Manitowoc County. Michael Stites also was convicted in Brown County of three counts of sexually assaulting his children's then 14-year-old baby-sitter in September 1998.
Jason C. Stites, 27, of New Berlin, another brother, is charged with five felonies.
He is accused of videotaping a teenage couple having sex while he chaperoned the minors in Manitowoc County. Stites' attorney, Ryan Kautzer, filed a motion May 19 to dismiss the case. A motion hearing is schedule for 9:30 a.m. Friday.
Carl Stites has been convicted of two counts of child enticement. He had sexual contact with a then 15-year-old boy in August 2006. He also had sexual contact with an adolescent girl between 2004 and 2005.
Charlene P. Stites, 43, of Manitowoc, Michael Stites' wife, is charged with repeated sexual assault of a child.
She is scheduled to meet with lawyers in the district attorney's office for a June 30 settlement conference.
Adam M. Stites, 18, of Manitowoc, Charlene and Michael Stites' son, has been convicted of three misdemeanor fourth-degree sexual assault charges — two counts in Kewaunee County and one count in Manitowoc County. He also is serving a deferred judgment agreement on a felony sex-related charge that will be dismissed if he fulfills the terms of the agreement.