Daily Herald Media

SCHOFIELD -- A Rothschild police officer was arrested during the weekend after a 21-year-old Schofield woman told police the officer sexually assaulted her in her home after the two spent the night watching a football game at a bar.

The officer, Corey A. Yolitz, 22, of Kronenwetter,was charged in Marathon County court Monday with second-degree sexual assault and burglary. He faces 52 1/2 years in prison if convicted on both charges.

The woman, who is not being named as the victim in a reported sexual assault, told police she ran into Yolitz Thursday night when she went to a local bar to watch the Green Bay Packers game. After the game, the woman continued drinking until bar-closing time at 2 a.m. Friday, when she was "extremely intoxicated" and accepted a ride home from Yolitz, according to court records.

Yolitz dropped her off and left, the woman told police, and she went to bed, according to court records.

Later in the night, the woman was awakened by someone having sex with her, she told police. She initially thought it was her boyfriend, and when she spoke to the man having sex with her in the darkened room, he responded as if he were the boyfriend, court records said.

At some point, she realized it wasn't her boyfriend and confronted the man, who ran from the home. As he left, the man set off motion lights outside the home, and the victim identified him as Yolitz and the car he got in as the car he had driven earlier that night, according to court records.

When police confronted Yolitz Saturday, he initially denied having sex with the woman, but later changed his story, according to court records. He told Everest Metro police that after he dropped the woman off, he became concerned that she might try to return to the bar to retrieve her car and drive home, records said.

Yolitz said he drove back to the bar, saw the woman's car still there and then drove to her home to be sure she wasn't walking to the car, records said. When he arrived, he found the door to her home locked, but he entered the home without announcing himself or turning on any lights, the report said.

He found the woman sleeping in her bed and then got into bed with her and initiated sexual contact, the report said. Yolitz told investigators he "could not recall" if he had intercourse with the woman, records said.

Marathon County Circuit Judge Jill Falstad ordered Yolitz held on a $2,500 cash bond and ordered him to have no contact with the woman and to consume no alcohol. Yolitz's defense attorney said he expected Yolitz to post the bond and be released from jail later Monday.

Yolitz, who was a Rothschild officer since June 9, immediately was removed from duty Friday when Rothschild Police Chief Jeremy Hunt learned of the allegations, and he resigned Saturday, Hunt said in a press release.

Investigation into the incident began Friday afternoon when police were called to Aspirus Wausau Hospital for a report of a sexual assault that occurred at a Schofield home. Yolitz was interviewed by Everest Metro officers Saturday and was taken into custody late that evening, according to Everest Metro Chief Wally Sparks.

Hunt issued a press release Monday in which he briefly outlined Yolitz's employment history and referred all questions to the Marathon County District Attorney's Office.

Daily Herald Media will update this story.