By Heather McDonald

Stevens Point Police Department recently released information about a convicted sex offender who will be released to live in Portage County next week.

Dennis E. Helminski, 61, will be released back to Portage County Monday, Oct. 23, under state Department of Corrections (DOC) supervision. He will remain on DOC supervision until Oct. 7, 2026.

When released, he also will be placed on intensive supervision and will be subject to global positioning system (GPS) monitoring for the rest of his life. He is required to register with the Wisconsin Sex Offender Registry Program for life; he registered in 1992 following a conviction of sexual assault of a child, repeat offender, in Portage County.

Stevens Point Police said they are informing the public to let them know about this offender as a safety measure, in accordance with state law. “This notification is not intended to increase fear; rather, it is our belief that an informed public is a safer public,” Sergeant Anthony Zblewski said in a news release.

Helminski is not wanted by the police at this time.

“Today, we met as a group and it was determined that Mr. Helminski does not rise to the level of risk to the community to warrant a community meeting or door to door notification,” Zblewski told the Gazette Monday, Oct. 16.

According to the DOC offender search, at press time, there were 50 registered sex offenders living in Portage County ranging in age from 21 to 79.Helminski will be the 51st registered sex offender in Portage County.

Helminski’s status, according to the DOC offender search, is listed as “active community supervision” at 1001 Maple Bluff Road, Stevens Point.

There are five convictions for Helminski, four of which are degrees of sexual assault: The Feb. 10, 1992, conviction; Oct. 17, 1986, conviction for first degree sexual assault of a child; June 22, 1984, third degree sexual assault; May 31, 1983, second degree sexual assault of a child; and Dec. 13, 1977, contributing to the delinquency of a minor. All convictions occurred in Portage County.

While Helminski has been transferred and relocation to several different facilities, the most recent one recorded with the DOC Sex Offender Registry is in New Lisbon Correctional Institution Dec. 17, 2004, when he was received from Redgranite Correctional Institution. The registry also shows he was released on MR to supervision Nov. 25, 2008, reporting to New Lisbon Correctional Institution.

Wisconsin Circuit Court Access (CCAP) has little information on Helminski and his cases. It does indicate that on March 15, 2012, under a sexually violent person petition, he was ordered to a secure mental facility: “The respondent is committed to the Department of Health Services for control, care and treatment until such time as the respondent is no longer a sexually violent person. This commitment is to institutional care in a secure mental health facility,” the CCAP case states.

Though not date specific, the Stevens Point Police Department summarized Helminski’s offenses as being against a 10-year-old girl during a game of hide and seek at a friend’s house; sexually assaulting girls he knew between the ages of 9 and 15; and on one occasion he threatened a 12-year-old girl with violence and forced her to engage in sexual intercourse.

The Wisconsin Sex Offender Registry is available at www.widocoffenders.org.

For questions and concerns regarding Helminski, contact Sergeant Anthony Zblewski at the Stevens Point Police Department at 715-341-4103 or [email protected].