By Brandi Makuski

An Amherst man is behind bars after being charged with stalking and repeat sexual assault of a child.

Kirby Schroeder, 68, was arrested in December after the mother of the 15-year-old victim’s friend came forward to report a possible sexual assault.

When interviewed by detectives, the girl said Schroeder moved into the apartment building where she lived with her mother about two years prior. His apartment was located near the building exit, according to the complaint, and he would often meet the girl in the hallway wearing only boxer shorts.

On several occasions he made small talk with the girl, then would hug her, pressing his body against her while he groped her over her clothing, according to the complaint. The girl said she tried to rush by the apartment whenever she could, and had to use increasing force to continually push Schroeder away.

The girl also said she was “afraid of what Mr. Schroeder might do to her and the more Mr. Schroeder ‘tries’ the more she thinks something is going to happen,” according to the complaint.

The girl’s mother told police she ran into Schroeder and and his friend at a local tavern, where the two men said they “wished her daughter was 18 years old” so they could have sex with her. Schroeder allegedly also groped the girl’s mother, according to the complaint.

When interviewed by detectives, Schroeder first said he had “nothing to do” with the girl, but later said he treated the girl “like a brother would treat a sister…nothing sexual or anything like that, you know.”

The comment puzzled deputies, who asked why Schroeder would make such a reference, but he was “unable to offer any reasonable explanation.”

Schroeder was previously convicted of first-degree sexual assault in Waupaca County in 1992. He was sentenced to five years in prison for that offense.

Schroeder is being held at the Portage Co. Jail on $3,000 cash bond. If convicted, he faces up to 40 years in prison. He returns to court Jan. 23.