GREEN BAY (NBC26) — Prosecutors charged Mauricio Powless with four felony counts, including sexual assault of a child under 16 years of age, at his initial court appearance Monday.
- Powless is accused of sexually assaulting two 13-year-old girls and attempting to sexually assault a 10-year-old girl during a six-day stretch last week
- The alleged incidents occurred at the Tundra Lodge
- Video shows Powless' initial court appearance
(The following is a transcription of the full broadcast story)
An 18-year-old Green Bay man accused of sexually assaulting three young girls at this hotel last week made his first court appearance Monday. Prosecutors have charged Mauricio Powless with multiple felonies, including sexual assault and false imprisonment.
Powless appeared via Zoom from the Brown County Jail, where these four charges were announced:
- Attempted 1st degree child sexual assault - sexual contact with a child under age 13
- False imprisonment
- 2nd degree sexual assault of a child under 16 years of age
- 2nd degree sexual assault of a child under 16 years of age
The final charge alone carries a sentence of up to 40 years.
Green Bay police say they arrested Powless on Friday on suspicion of inappropriately touching three underage girls at the Tundra Lodge.
Police say he touched the girls while they were in elevators and hallways.
"The nature of these offenses is particularly disturbing and gives the state a concern about public safety, and therefore we believe a significant cash bond is appropriate," the assistant district attorney appearing for the state said.
Powless' attorney asked for a lower bond, saying this was his first criminal offense.
"He is a graduate of the NEW school and is currently employed at Chipotle, for which he has been employed for over a year," attorney Britteny Keonig said.
But the court commissioner agreed with the state.
"I am going to order a $40,000 cash bond, and no contact with victims 1, 2, 3, and 4, as identified in the criminal complaint," the acting court commissioner said.
The criminal complaint says the incidents were not caught on camera, but footage at the hotel does place Powless in the building.
The complaint also says Powless confessed to police that he assaulted the girls — who are between 10 and 13 years old.
Powless did not speak in court, but some in the small audience were crying.
We were told the vice president of Tundra Lodge was unavailable for comment Monday night.
Mauricio Powless is next scheduled in court on February 9.
