Crime & Safety
Dennis Marth Preliminary Hearing Rescheduled
Defense raises concerns about testimony of children involved in the case that was recorded because they appear to be "parroting" other people's remarks.
The preliminary hearing for a Sussex sex offender, who moved there from Waukesha this summer and is accused of talking to kids in a Hartland park , has been delayed until Aug. 31.
Attorney Doug Bihler, who is representing 50-year-old sex offender Dennis Marth, asked the hearing in the be delayed Wednesday because of concerns he had with testimony given by children and recorded on DVDs appears to be based partly on hearsay.
Marth is charged with four counts of child enticement.
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Bihler said he’s concerned about the testimony because the children Marth allegedly approached at Nixon Park on July 15 talked about parts of the case they may have overheard from their parents and babysitter that creates concerns about their testimony.
He said one child used the term “beeline” which he found odd for someone so young to use that word and after checking transcripts he noticed an adult used the same term and the child appeared to be parroting the adult’s remarks.
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Marth is charged with four counts of child enticement after he allegedly approached several young boys at Nixon Park and asked them if they knew where the railroad tracks were located near the park. A babysitter watching several of the children noticed the behavior and the attention Marth was showing the boys and immediately reported it to police.
Marth had been drinking at the time of the incident, with police finding alcohol in his car, along with changes of clothes and pieces of rope.
A Hartland detective gave testimony Wednesday about the process of conducting the interviews that were recorded, but the hearing was delayed in order to give Bihler an opportunity to file his objections about the testimony.
Marth is currently being held in Waukesha County Jail on $250,000 cash bail.
Judge William Domina released Marth from a mental commitment for sex offenders in May that Marth has been on since 2000. Marth was previously living at 1216 Buena Vista Ave. in Waukesha since 2007.
Marth is convicted twice of molesting children, according to a 2007 Milwaukee Journal Sentinel article.
Marth unsuccessfully asked the Waukesha County Circuit Court to release him from supervision last summer.
