STEPHEN KOHL FOUND GUILTY OF FOUR COUNTS OF FIRST DEGREE SEXUAL ASSAULT OF A CHILD

MADISON - Stephen H. Kohl, 59, was convicted by a Clark County jury last night of four counts of First Degree Sexual Assault of a Child, Attorney General J.B. Van Hollen announced today.

Witnesses testified that in 1996, Kohl had sexual contact in four separate incidents with two eight-year old girls who were visiting his home. Several other witnesses testified that Kohl had sexually assaulted them as children in a similar manner years earlier.

Kohl faces a maximum penalty of forty years in prison on each count. Sentencing has been scheduled for March 27, 2008.

The trial was previously scheduled for June 2007, but on the day of the trial, Kohl fled and was apprehended in Wood County several months later. He will be arraigned on Bail Jumping charges on February 21, 2008. Kohl remains in custody; bond remains set at a total of $2 million in both cases.

The case was investigated by the Marshfield Police Department and the Clark County Sheriff's Department. The prosecution was handled by Assistant Attorneys General Barbara Oswald and Erik Kinnunen as special prosecutors for Clark County. Clark County Judge Jon M. Counsell presided over the three day trial.