By Reagan Hoverman

Wyatt James Blomberg, 17, of Ellsworth, has pleaded not guilty to eight sex-related charges including six counts of sexual assault, one count of underage sexual activity, and one count of exposing genitals. Blomberg and his defense team pleaded not guilty during an arraignment hearing at the Pierce County Courthouse in Ellsworth on Tuesday, Aug. 9.

Pierce County Court Commissioner Jorv Gavic appeared in the courtroom moments before 10 a.m. on Tuesday, Aug. 9, and arrived in front of a semi-populated courtroom that included Blomberg and his defense team, as well as the prose cution representative for the state of Wisconsin.

As soon as Blomberg's defense was given a chance to speak, the defense attorney made a motion to dismiss the case on the grounds that the

proper paperwork had not been filed, or in their eyes, posted online for the defense and the public to see, within the statutory requirement of 30 days.

The defense attorney stat – ed that as of Tuesday, Aug. 9, at approximately 9 a.m. the records couldn't be found online because he had looked approximately one hour ear – lier and allegedly couldn't find the records and that cop – ies were not readily available in a timely manner.

After Blomberg's defense team had presented its case and made an argument for

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Wyatt Blomberg Blomberg

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the dismissal of the charges against Blomberg, the state of Wisconsin representative, Joseph Schieffer, moved to have the motion denied.

Schieffer stated that the records were filed well within the allowed 30 days and that they had been sent to the Wisconsin Consolidated Court Automation Programs (CCAP) on July 11, within the legal requirement period, which was later confirmed by Kerry Feuerhelm, the Pierce County Clerk of Courts.

While Feuerhelm stated that it had been officially filed 28 days ago as of Tuesday, Aug. 9, Blomberg’s defense argued that it may have been filed, but it wasn’t publicly available and therefore invalid. The defense argued on the technicality of paperwork being submitted and filed compared to being visible and available for public consumption.

After taking a few moments to assess the arguments of the defense and the prosecution, Pierce County Court Commissioner Gavic denied the defense’s motion to have the charges dismissed. He then began the arraignment at which point he read all eight charges to Blomberg and those in attendance.

Of the eight sex-related charges against Blomberg, six are felony-caliber offenses with the exception of count five, exposing genitals, which is a Class A Misdemeanor, and count seven, underage sexual activity – sexual contact with child age 15, actor under age 19, which is also a Class A Misdemeanor. If convicted, he faces up to 40 years in prison and/or fines up to $100,000.

According to the complaint, five juveniles (middle school age and older) have reported being sexually assaulted by Blomberg and/ or forced to have intercourse with him without their consent in incidents ranging from Spring 2019 to June 4, 2021. The alleged incidents are reported to have taken place on school grounds, in private homes or vehicles.

After Blomberg’s charges had been read aloud, the defendant pleaded not guilty on all eight charges and the arraignment was over. A status conference is slated for 11:15 a.m. Sept. 22.