Manitowoc attorney charged with child sex crimes

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Manitowoc attorney Joseph Engl, of Engl Law Office LLC, is charged with six felonies tied to allegations of second degree sexual assault of a child.

Engl, 36, was due to make his initial appearance Monday afternoon in Manitowoc County Circuit Court before Judge Jerome Fox.

According to the online court record, Engl is charged with three counts of second degree sexual assault of a child, one count of use of computer to facilitate a child sex crime, one count of child enticement and one count of failure to update sex offender information.

Engl is being held on $150,000 bail in Manitowoc County Jail.

Manitowoc attorney C.R. Krieger, of the Law Offices of C.R. Krieger, said he shared office space with Engl, and both specialized in bankruptcy law.

Krieger said Engl began renting space in the building on Oct. 1, 2011, and the two had a professional relationship, referring cases to one another.

“He came in with skills doing Chapter 12 bankruptcy, which was unusual,” Krieger said. “I was glad to have him a as resource professionally.”

In 2004, a Milwaukee County Circuit Judge sentenced Engl to four years probation on felony charges of using a computer to facilitate a child sex crime.

A year later, the Wisconsin Office of Lawyer Regulation publicly reprimanded Engl for the incident.

According to the OLR and State Bar of Wisconsin websites, Engl’s law license is in good standing.

Krieger said Engl was straightforward in explaining his criminal and disciplinary history when the two met.

“He told me what happened and, according the Supreme Court decision, he was unlikely to re-offend,” Krieger said. “Apparently, allegedly they were wrong.”