Sussex Sex Offender Faces Four Counts of Child Enticement

A Sussex sex offender is facing charges after he was allegedly showing little boys “too much attention” at Nixon Park in Hartland.

Dennis C. Marth, 50, was charged in Waukesha County Circuit Court Friday with four counts of child enticement. If convicted, he faces up to 100 years in prison and $400,000 in fines.

According to the criminal complaint:

On July 15, a woman noticed Marth walking up to boys in the park and asking them where the railroad tracks were. The woman had been watching four children at the park and one of them told her it was odd that Marth asked him where the tracks were because he already had shown him where the tracks were. The youth also said he heard Marth  ask another boy to show him where the tracks were.

The woman said she found it odd Marth was showing so much attention to the boys and was keeping his hands in his pockets for long periods of time while interacting with the children. After she noticed Marth get up and follow a younger boy she was watching to a remote section of the park, she gathered up all the children and immediately went to the Hartland Police Department to report the behavior.

Upon arriving, police found Marth sitting on a bench near two younger boys who were fishing. The boys told one of the officers Marth had been asking them where the railroad tracks were even though he had approached them two days earlier and done the same thing.

Marth first told officers he had come visit the park because he grew up in Hartland and had been drinking that morning. He later changed his story to say he had some drinks after working third shift and had come to the park to sober up.

However, police found a mug with beer in his vehicle, along with half a bottle of whiskey. He had a blood alcohol level of 0.14 at the time of the incident.

Marth, who was recently released from monitoring by the state Department of Corrections after being convicted of first-degree sexual assault in 1986, told police he had issues with touching young boys in the past, but he was continuing to seek treatment for his problems.

Marth is being held in Waukesha County Jail in lieu of $500,000 bail.