A Wisconsin man and public school paraprofessional is currently in jail after meeting a disabled woman online and severely beating her, according to Illinois law enforcement.
Johnny Latiker, 51, is charged with aggravated battery causing great bodily harm, grooming, and domestic battery causing bodily harm, according to McHenry County Sheriff’s Office records.
During his initial court appearance, Latiker’s defense attorney attempted to portray the behavior in question as a consensual expression of sexual fantasy and role-play between a couple who are, in fact, dating.
McHenry County Judge Cynthia Lamb ruled in favor of the state, ordering the defendant held in pre-trial detention for the time being.
On August 7, authorities issued a warrant to arrest Latiker, according to court records. He was arrested on Wednesday and appeared in court the following day.
According to a courtroom report from The Northwest Herald, Assistant State’s Attorney Daniel Conroy stated that the alleged victim has kidney cancer, is partially paralyzed, and “mostly” uses a wheelchair to get around.
The prosecutor went on to describe the alleged attack that resulted in the charges, reading from a document written by a police officer following an interview with the woman on July 13.
The alleged victim stated that she and Latiker began dating in May. Then, one day, he allegedly locked her bedroom door, donned fingerless leather gloves, and began punching and choking her. As the strangulation continued, the defendant allegedly demanded that the victim look him in the eyes. According to authorities, Latiker placed a pillow over the woman’s head, attempted to sexually assault her, and threatened her life.
The woman was allegedly punched on the side repeatedly, resulting in five broken ribs, several bruises, and contusions. The woman claimed her attacker threatened her after the incident. According to Conroy, Latiker allegedly threatened her with physical harm if she told anyone about the encounter.
In court, Latiker, a Milwaukee resident, stated that he works with special needs students at Cedarburg High School in Cedarburg, Wisconsin. The defendant also stated that during the summer, he works as a hang-gliding instructor at music festivals.
The prosecution used the defendant’s work against him.
Conroy allegedly read aloud text messages in which the defendant allegedly stated that he enjoys “naughty stuff” and had a “fantasy” involving children as young as four years old, a 10-year-old girl he once saw playing on a trampoline, and the high school girls at his workplace.
“I can actually start grooming,” the defendant allegedly stated in one text message.
In another text message, Latiker allegedly expressed a desire to kidnap a child from Marengo, a small town in McHenry County where the victim is from, so that “no one would know.”
The prosecutor claimed that the defendant’s text messages demonstrate that he is “extremely dangerous” to children and that both of his jobs allow him “limitless contact” with children.
Assistant Public Defender David Giesinger argued that the man and woman were simply “talking about sex fantasies.”
The defense attorney noted that Latiker once asked the alleged victim what her “hard line” was so that he did not cross it. Later, when the woman stated in one message that the defendant had hurt her, Latiker responded by asking what he had done wrong so that it did not happen again, Giesinger argued.
Latiker also appeared to back down from some of the behavior highlighted in court, telling the woman at one point that he “can’t do this fantasy stuff” because he was “starting to creep myself out” and referring to their meetings negatively as “playing that game.”
Meanwhile, in other text messages, the woman mentioned “engaging in facilitating” those fantasies, according to the defense attorney.
“These are two individuals engaged in roleplaying and fantasy,” Giesinger said, arguing that the “nature of their relationship” revolved around roleplaying and sharing sexual fantasies.
The judge, for her part, rejected the defense’s version of events, emphasizing the woman’s broken ribs and contusions on her cancerous kidney. The court emphasized that no relationship should cause such injuries.
Lamb, reading from the detention order, also supported the state’s allegations of grooming. The judge said that Latiker reportedly “used his cellphone multiple times to coerce this victim to … give him sexual access to a minor … attempting to seduce, solicit, lure, or entice, a child to engage in sexual offenses.”
The defendant is next scheduled to appear in court on August 21.
