.png)
WAUPACA COUNTY, Wis. (WBAY) - A 2012 sexual assault in New London is the first case to net a conviction and a prison sentence due to the testing of backlogged sexual assault kits.
Leroy Whittenberger was sentenced to 25 years in prison, followed by 15 years under state extended supervision.
A Waupaca County jury found Whittenberger guilty of three counts of second-degree sexual assault.
Whittenberger assaulted a teen in New London in July 2012. The victim's sexual assault kit went untested for years due to a backlog at the state crime lab.
After testing of backlogged evidence tied Whittenberger to the crime, he was tried in Waupaca County. A jury found him guilty of three counts of second-degree sexual assault.
The Wisconsin Department of Justice calls Whittenberger a "serial sexual offender." He was three previous sexual assault convictions in Lincoln and Marathon counties.
