Menomonie man sentenced to 28 years prison for child sexual assault

Jul. 22—MENOMONIE — A Menomonie man will serve a 28-year prison sentence after he was convicted of multiple sex assault offenses with a nine-year-old girl.

Daniel S. Brooks, 25, 705 Bruce Court, pleaded guilty in May in Dunn County Court to two counts of first-degree child sexual assault, child sexual exploitation, and possession of child pornography.

Dunn County District Attorney Andrea Nodolf said by state statute, there is a mandatory 25-year sentence for first-degree sexual assault of a child under age 12.

"Many of the assaults occurred when the victim was asleep," Nodolf said. "It was caught on the victim's cell phone."

This week, Dunn County Judge Rod Smeltzer ordered Brooks to serve 28 years in prison total between the four convictions. Smeltzer also placed Brooks on 25 years of extended supervision upon release. Brooks was given credit for 370 days already served.

Nodolf requested 33 years in prison but was satisfied with the outcome.

"The evidence was very strong in this case," she said. "We were able to recover the images. These crimes have a lifelong impact on victims, and this sentence is justified. At the end of the day, this was very serious."

Brooks also must pay $1,536 in court costs and fines, will be a registered sex offender for the rest of his life and must submit a DNA sample. He cannot have any contact with the victim in the case, and he cannot have any contact with juveniles without approval from his probation agent.

Defense attorney Jonathan Lundeen asked Smeltzer to impose 25 years in prison and 10 years of extended supervision.

Online court records show that Brooks assaulted the victim at least five times: in September 2019, and March, April, June and July 2020.