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NEW ULM -- A 26-year-old New Ulm man who pleaded guilty in August to felony 2nd-degree criminal sexual conduct for having sex with a girl under age 13 in 2018, was sentenced to a stay of imposition in Brown County District Court Dec. 8.
Three 1st-degree criminal sexual conduct charges were dismissed in the case.
Robert J. Ulrich was sentenced to 360 days in jail in three 120-day segments. He was fined $1,580, which can be worked off by Sentence to Service hours, if available. He was ordered to serve 10 years supervised probation with the Department of Corrections Field Services.
Other conditions include no using or possessing firearms, ammunition or explosives, not registered to vote or voting until civil rights are restored, paying restitution, open for 30 days, completing a psychological evaluation and approve outpatient adult group sex offender treatment, following all recommendations, paying fees, no contact with victims or persons under age 18 unless approved by probation.
Ulrich cannot possess or use any pornographic/sexually explicit material, have no Internet access without approval, may not use or possess mood-altering chemicals including alcohol, except prescribed medication and he must register as a predatory offender.
According to court documents, Brown County and New Ulm Police investigators received a child protection summary report from Brown County Human Services Child Protection on Feb. 5, 2018.
On Feb. 3, 2018, Brown County Sheriff's Investigator Eric Schwarzrock got a call from the victim's father who said an adult with a significant relationship to the victim had sexually assaulted the girl in New Ulm.
The girl told New Ulm Police Senior Investigator Jeff Hohensee she was continually sexually abused by a Robert J. Ulrich and that the abuse began when she was eight or nine years old. She said the abuse usually took place in the basement of the house where Ulrich lived, when he babysat her.
The girl told Hohensee there were more than 20 incidents of sexual abuse by Ulrich to her until about a year before she was interviewed in February 2018.
Hohensee was later told by a witness that when she learned of the abuse on Feb. 2, 2018, she confronted Ulrich who initially denied the abuse, then "broke down" and confessed.
The witness showed Hohensee a text message she got from Ulrich on Feb. 4, 2018 that read "I am really sorry. I know what I did was wrong. I want to talk and do anything to try and make things better."
(Fritz Busch can be emailed at fbusch@
nujournal.com).