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"No Contest", Attorney Tracey Wood said, "was best for the children so that they did have to go through the ordeal of a sexual abuse trial that would have resulted from the sexual assault charges against a day care center operator and her husband who was found sexuall abusing children at the day care center."

 
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Child Care Provider Pleaded No Contest

Wisconsin State Journal

Former Palmyra child-care provider Diane Mattsen pleaded no contest Tuesday to failing to stop her husband from sexually abusing children in her care.

In August, Mattsen's husband, Clyde Mattsen, was sentenced to 182 1/2 years in prison on seven counts of sexually assaulting several young girls at his wife's day care.

At Tuesday's plea hearing in Jefferson County Circuit Court, the prosecution, D. Mattsen dropped seven of the eight counts against Mattsen of failure to stop the abuse.

Assistant District Attorney Susan Sommer said that since the case would not be going to trial "it was the right thing to do.''

Mattsen's lawyer, Attorney Tracey Wood, said the plea was the best resolution for both the state and the defense.

[Attorney Tracey] Wood added that Mattsen did not want to put the children through a trial. "She doesn't want to put the children through testifying,'' Wood said. Mattsen faces up to 10 years in prison and a $10,000 fine. "He could give her probation or prison or anywhere in between,'' Wood said. Months before the couple's April arrest, Mattsen found her husband naked with two of the girls in the basement but continued to run her child-care center from their home, according to the criminal complaint. Mattsen, 58, remains free on bond. Jefferson County Circuit Judge William Hue ordered a presentencing investigation Tuesday that will take about 60 days to complete.

Van Wagner & Wood, S.C.

Attorney Tracey Wood and former Chicago criminal defense lawyer Attorney Chris Van Wagner, the founders of Van Wagner & Wood, S.C. devote themselves exclusively to defending people charged (or convicted) of criminal offenses (crimes ranging from white collar crimes including fraud and embezzlement, sexual assault, battery, and murder) to drunk driving offenses including those with prior convictions. Attorney Tracey Wood is the first attorney ever appointed to the National College for DUI Defense Board of Regents and Wisconsin's foremost authority on drunk driving.

Related Topics:
Sexual Assault | Felony vs. Misdemeanor | Felony Crime