MERRILL, WI (WSAU-WAOW) A 57-year-old Lincoln County man is accused of “grooming” young girls into situations where he could sexually molest them. Prosecutors say Gary Van Kilen targeted single mothers with children with a strange trail of behaviors designed to have sexual contact with them.
Gary Ver Kilen’s victims ranged in age from 9 to 16, according to two criminal complaints.
Ver Kilen is charged with seven felonies in two cases – the most recent Jan. 5 accusing him of two counts of child enticement and stalking – in incidents that occurred in August 2013 and Nov. 17 after investigators recovered some sexually explicit writings at his rural Irma home, according to court records. He is charged as a repeat criminal, meaning punishments can be more severe if he is convicted.
Ver Kilen will be back in court to court Jan. 18 to face the most recent charges. His bail was set at $10,000 cash for charges filed last fall.
In October, Ver Kilen was charged with four felonies, including first-degree sexual assault of a child under age 13, after three young sisters told investigators he sexually touched them on their thighs last summer on a trip to his deer stand aboard a four-wheeler, the complaint said.
In April 2015 two girls reported that they went to Ver Kilen’s porch to get their puppy and found a note weighted down with a rock “with condoms around it,” the complaint said. The note said, “Don’t tell your mom but when she leaves for work come over.”
Last January, a 16-year-old girl reported that Ver Kilen left a note with her at a Shopko in Tomahawk, suggesting she come to his home. He also followed her around the store and “lingered watching her,” the complaint said.
Prosecutors said Ver Kilen left swing sets and bicycles on his property to try to lure neighbor girls. “He has presented himself to them as a skills man and offered to teach, mentor and befriend them,” a complaint said.
Investigators interviewed Ver Kilen in June about the allegations, the complaint said. “He denied touching the girls. He admitted to taking them to the deer shack.”
Asked about the incident involving the condoms, Ver Kilen complained the two young girls were left home alone and “if he wanted to throw condoms in his yard, it’s nobody’s business,” the complaint said.
Ver Kilen told one investigator that he wanted to find someone “to setttle down with because he is lonely,” the complaint said.
The complaints include a Marshfield Police Department report indicating Ver Kilen had inappropriate contact with a 14-year-old girl in July 2014, telling her, “Where is your club to beat off the boys?” the complaint said. He was issued a stalking warning letter.
