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Walworth County man faces life in prison for sex assault

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Leon Laudie

ELKHORN — A 47-year-old Walworth County man faces life in prison after a jury found him guilty Thursday of first-degree sexual assault of a young girl he knows and possession of child pornography.

Leon L. Laudie, 45, of Lafayette Township, was found guilty of 20 counts of possession of child pornography and one count of sexual assault of a child younger than 13.

He is expected to be sentenced in September.

After the jury delivered its verdict Thursday, the victim’s mother said she is glad to know Laudie will be unable to assault other children.

“It feels great because I did it for my little girl,” she said.

During the trial, defense attorney Donna Kuchler said the victim is an unreliable source of information. She said the defendant’s son could have been the one to assault the girl because she called them both by a common name.

District Attorney Phil Koss said despite her young age, the victim looked at pictures of both men and pointed to the one who took pictures of her and touched her.

“Every statement in there is somehow corroborated,” Koss said.

During testimony, the victim mentioned going to the defendant’s house to get eggs with her grandmother. She recollected seeing a cat and feeling sick that weekend, information that later was confirmed by other witnesses.

“She knows about the eggs, she knows about getting sick, she knows about the kitties,” Koss said. “And we’re going to say she’s confused, that she doesn’t know who assaulted her?”

The defendant is a registered sex offender convicted earlier of touching five girls between the ages of 4 and 8 between 1982 and 1991.

“He is motivated as few people are to commit this crime,” Koss said.