By Erica Irish
TheStatehouseFile.com
STURGEON BAY, Wis.—Former Franklin College president Thomas Minar’s court battle over alleged child sex crimes was again delayed Monday.
Minar, 57, appeared virtually before Door County District Court Judge David Weber with attorneys Brett Reetz and Mark Maciolek. Reetz asked Weber for more time to conduct a forensic analysis in building a defense for Minar, a process Reetz said could take another 60 days.
While Weber granted more time, Nick Grode, the assistant district attorney for Door County, reminded Reetz and Minar the plea deal prosecutors first offered in October is set to expire Friday. District Attorney Colleen Nordin has not provided details about the plea bargain, and it remains unclear if Minar will accept.
“I understand that they put those deadlines on, but we are working diligently in terms of the forensics,” Reetz said at the hearing. “We’re not imposing any additional burden on the state.”
Reetz declined to comment further Monday but said at a previous hearing Minar maintains his innocence.
Minar pleaded not guilty to the charges at his last hearing in October. Franklin College fired him in January 2020 after learning of his arrest, shown by police dash cam footage here, when he traveled to meet with a person he believed to be a 15-year-old child at a Sturgeon Bay McDonald’s.
The former president is charged with 12 counts of possession of child pornography, using a computer to facilitate a sex crime and exposing a child to harmful narrations. All are felony crimes in Wisconsin.
For more on this story, see Wednesday’s Republic.
