ANTIGO, WISCONSIN — A former Langlade County sheriff’s deputy was arrested and charged with 22 felonies Tuesday for alleged sexual activity with teenage girls.
Bail was set at $50,000 for Michael Brayton, 25, of Gleason. A judge ordered that he have no contact with girls younger than 18 if he makes bail.
Brayton remained in custody after his court appearance and does not have a listed phone number. Online court records do not list whether he has an attorney.
The charges include four counts of sexual assault of a child under 16, two counts of child enticement and 16 counts of exposing his genitals to children.
All are linked to incidents with four girls, ages 15 to 18, the Antigo Daily Journal reported (http://bit.ly/NeUDVj ).
The 32-page complaint alleges a pattern of behavior with girls from Elcho High School and heavy use of social media including Facebook and text messaging. It alleges Brayton and the girls became friendly and their relationships escalated to trading explicit photographs and several instances of physical contact with one girl.
In statements to investigators, the girls described Brayton as a “hot cop” with one saying she initially was flattered by the attention but later began to feel it was wrong.
According to the complaint, Brayton told investigators nothing happened while he was on duty and never involved force or alcohol.
“Either way I’m an adult,” Brayton was quoted as saying. “It’s my fault, it’s my decision and you live with the consequences. I’m 100 percent guilty.”
Sheriff Bill Greening said in a statement that Brayton was a deputy from 2008 until June 11 this year. The statement did not say whether Brayton quit or was fired, and a dispatcher said the sheriff and his chief deputy were unavailable for comment.
The Marathon County District Attorney’s office is prosecuting the case.
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