Knowing he was going to prison for repeatedly molesting a child, a Racine man stood before a judge on Friday and said “I’m glad I was caught.”
Joel C. Dingman, 18, was convicted in July of the repeated sexual assault of a 5-year-old girl, for whom he would baby-sit. Some of these sexual assaults occurred while baby-sitting for the child, investigators said.
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“I understand that no words, that no actions, can make up for what I’ve done,” Dingman said during his sentencing hearing Friday. “I want to say I’m very sorry. I’m very sorry to the victim and my family. Obviously I regret doing this, but I regret not coming forward with this.”
Dingman was accused of performing sex acts on the child and making her perform them on him between approximately the summer of 2011 and between August to October of 2012, according to his criminal complaint. The girl told her parents and Dingman was confronted with the allegations. He admitted to investigators that at least 10 sex acts were performed with the girl — sometimes molesting her while he was baby-sitting for her, the complaint stated.
“I admit what I did was very wrong. But I’m glad I was caught. Very glad I was caught,” Dingman told Racine County Circuit Court Judge Tim Boyle during his sentencing. “It won’t happen again.”
Dingman pleaded guilty on July 11 to one count of repeated sexual assault of a child, in which at least three offenses were first-degree sexual assaults. That charge was punishable by a maximum of 40 years in prison plus 20 years on extended supervision.
Assistant District Attorney Randy Schneider said the Wisconsin Department of Corrections recommended 10 to 13 years in prison and seven to 10 years on extended supervision for Dingman, who turns 19 next week and has no prior criminal record. As part of the plea deal, Schneider agreed to recommend that Dingman be sentenced within those ranges. He said Dingman needs treatment and punishment.
“When confronted, he immediately cooperated,” said defense attorney Donald Bielski. “I just feel 10-13 years is excessive. I’m not gonna offer a (alternative) number to this court.”
Boyle sentenced Dingman to 10 years in prison plus 15 years on extended supervision, drawing an immediate gasp from the teen’s mother, who buried her face in her hands sobbing.
Dingman also must register as a sex offender.
In sentencing the teen, Boyle compared sexual assaults to homicides.
“It ultimately is the killing of something inside the victim,” Boyle said. “It just broke my heart when I read the PSI (pre-sentence investigation report) and the victim’s mother described that ‘he took my beautiful child and turned her into a monster.’ My heart goes out to everyone here. This will haunt her and affect her the rest of her life.”
As Boyle read that comment aloud, the child’s grandmother burst into tears, sobbing in the back of the courtroom.
Dingman’s father, John Dingman Sr., said he used to work for the Lake County, Ill., Sheriff’s Office and knows what happens to child sex offenders in prison.
“We may never see him outside of prison again,” Dingman Sr. said. “I’m not here to try to get him off, I just wish it hadn’t happened. Whatever we can do when he gets out, we’ll help him.”
