By Jacob Mathias

After a 5-year-old girl told her aunt of an alleged sexual assault, a Plover man now faces up to 60 years imprisonment for sexual assault of a child.

Shane Stroik, 29, is charged with first degree child sexual assault with a person under the age of 13 years old. If convicted of the felony charge, Stroik faces up to 60 years imprisonment.

Stoik makes his initial appearance in Portage Co. Circuit court on Sept. 6 at 1:30 PM with his attorney Gary Kryshak.

Plover police were notified of the alleged assault on July 5 by one of the girl’s relatives.

According to the criminal complaint, the girl disclosed the alleged abuse while visiting extended family. She also reportedly told family members and Child Protective Services workers that Stroik told her not to tell her mother.

During a forensic interview at the Child Advocacy Center in Wausau, the girl helped detectives determine the incident allegedly occurred on June 10 or 11. The girl said Stroik, who was her mother’s boyfriend at the time, entered the girl’s bedroom, removed her underwear and used his hand to penetrate her vagina, according to the report.

The girl told investigators she told Stroik to stop; he allegedly replied by saying he would not.

When questioned by police, Stroik denied the allegations, but said on the night in question the girl entered the bedroom where he and the girl’s mother slept, crying. The girl did not say why she was crying, according to Stroik’s statement, but she laid down next to her mother.

When interviewed by detectives, the mother said the girl seemed to be “bothered” by something more than she was willing to disclose.

He also denied being alone with the girl, saying the only time he was in her bedroom was to, “kiss her goodnight and everything and that’s it.”

Stroik is currently free on a $2,000 cash bond is ordered to have no contact with the victim, nor any unsupervised contact with minor females.

He is also ordered to report alcohol and drug free to the Portage Co. Day Report Center daily.