(WTAQ-WLUK) — A Manitowoc County convicted sex offender was sentenced to 25 years in prison for sexually assaulting a 14-year-old girl and producing child pornography.
Rodney A. Hanes, 59, pleaded guilty to child enticement and producing child pornography.
According to court records, in June 2024, then-58-year-old Hanes, who was previously convicted of felony sexual assault in 1995, was living in Manitowoc County when he met a 14-year-old girl from Outagamie County on Snapchat.
Hanes subsequently picked up the victim during the nighttime hours near her home, took her to a parking lot and sexually assaulted her.
For the next seven months, Hanes continued to sexually assault the victim at locations in Outagamie and Brown counties, including after hours at his workplace. Hanes also supplied the victim with methamphetamine and took numerous pictures and videos of the sexual assaults.
In January 2025, the Outagamie County Sheriff’s Department received a tip, immediately investigated it, and arrested Hanes at his workplace. Law enforcement also seized his phone, which contained child pornography that he had produced.
At his sentencing hearing, Judge William Griesbach emphasized the severity of Hanes’s conduct in targeting a child, and that a lengthy prison term was needed to achieve just punishment, deterrence, and protection of the public.
