Reedsburg sex offender sees deferred agreement revoked

A Reedsburg man initially given a deferred sentence agreement and probation after sexually assaulting a 5-year-old has been sent to prison after violating the arrangement less than a year after it was ordered.

Nicholas Jason Zieler, 27, appeared Tuesday for his sentencing hearing in Sauk County Circuit Court alongside his attorney, John Paul Holevoet.

Sauk County Assistant District Attorney Rick Spoentgen argued that Zieler be imprisoned for 10 years, with four years of extended supervision. Spoentgen also requested Zieler be registered as a sex offender for the rest of his life.

Holevoet asked Circuit Court Judge Patricia Barrett to consider two years of prison and four years of extended supervision. Both the mother of the child who was the victim in the case and Zieler spoke during the hearing.

Barrett sentenced Zieler to eight years in prison and eight years of extended supervision. She ordered Zieler to provide a DNA sample, register as a lifetime sex offender, have no contact with anyone under 18 years old unless incidental or approved by his parole agent, have no contact with the child, the child’s residence or school, undergo sex offender treatment programming as recommended and undergo an alcohol and other drug assessment and treatment.

Barrett also ordered Zieler to maintain absolute sobriety, not enter any premises where the primary purpose of business is the sale of alcohol, and to maintain full-time employment as well as to complete a high school equivalency degree.

Zieler entered a deferred prosecution agreement as ordered by Barrett in October 2021 after pleading no contest to felony counts of first-degree sexual assault of a child under 13 and causing a child under 13 to see or listen to a sexual act.

That agreement, which was first recommended by prosecutors and Zieler’s former defense attorney, initially had Zieler on a five-year plan. Barrett ordered it to last 10 years. If Zieler had fulfilled the terms of the agreement, the charge of child sexual assault have been removed from his record. As a condition of the agreement, he was ordered to serve eight months in Sauk County Jail. He was given probation for the second felony charge. The agreement was revoked in September.

According to court records, Zieler violated the agreement multiple times. He first reported to jail in October 2021 with a breath alcohol level of 0.14%. In the motion to revoke the agreement, prosecutors noted that he had a number of violations: damaging a sprinkler head in his jail cell, trying to create a makeshift knife out of a Popsicle stick, failing to register his social media accounts with the Wisconsin Sex Offender Registry, ingesting marijuana and entering a number of child-oriented places, like schools and parks. Zieler also consumed alcohol during a party where children were present in July 2022.

That same day, he was found to have a breath alcohol result of 0.18% after damaging signs and a chain-link fence in the 500 block of South Boulevard in Baraboo.

Zieler also failed to show up to jail Aug. 2 after being ordered there by his probation officer, instead showing up Aug. 3.

The charges stem from when Zieler was babysitting a 5-year-old in the late summer and fall of 2019. The child told a parent that Zieler had sexually assaulted them, which prompted the adult to call police.

During an interview at Safe Harbor Child Advocacy Center of Madison, the child said Zieler walked them both into a room and ordered the 5-year-old to lie down before sexually assaulting the child.

Upon being questioned by police, Zieler claimed he did not remember what the child was talking about. He then blamed the 5-year-old. The child “did it all” without being asked, Zieler claimed.