Jury convicts man in child sex abuse case

A jury has convicted a Dodge Center man of two counts of sexually assaulting a child, but acquitted him on a third.
William Patrick Wyttenback, 54, was found guilty March 27 of one count each of first-degree criminal sexual conduct and third-degree criminal sexual conduct. He was not guilty of a second count of first-degree criminal sexual conduct. All are felonies.
Sentencing is set for June 3.
Change 
of venue
The case was heard by a Mower County jury, after two attempts to seat a jury in Dodge County failed. The defense was granted a change of venue in February.
Wyttenback was formally charged in December 2024; he has remained in custody in lieu of $250,000 conditional bond since his arrest Oct. 31, 2024 for a different case.
In March 2025, he demanded a jury trial; the case was scheduled for trial several times in the past year.
In January, jury selection finally started; the next day, the identity of two potential jurors was “leaked” to one of the prosecution’s witnesses.
The witness claimed a victim’s advocate told her the names; the victim’s advocate denied the claim.
After questioning by the attorneys and judge, there was a continuance granted for an evidentiary hearing about how to proceed — specifically, if the prosecution’s communication with the victim’s advocate is privileged.
The judge ruled that the advocate could not be ordered to produce privileged information, nor is it required under the Brady rule — which requires prosecutors to disclose all evidence to the defense.
On Feb. 9, the proceedings for a jury trial began in Mantorville a second time.
During jury selection, a potential juror said he and other jurors “shared his opinion that it was not possible for (Wyttenback) to receive a fair trial in Dodge County,” the defense said in its motion for a change of venue.
The juror said he knew the defendant from his time working at Casey’s General Store in Dodge Center, and had “frequent conversations.”
The same juror said Wyttenback’s “ex-wife was talking about the case to other people in the community,” and that information about the case was “all over Facebook.”
Another juror then asked why the first juror was “grilled,” and was upset that the first juror was questioned for “an unreasonable period of time.”
In her ruling about the change of venue, Judge Debra Groehler wrote that she has “no confidence in these potential jurors’ ability to refrain from discussing the case with others in Dodge County.”
This, she wrote, “combined with what occurred during the January trial setting, causes the Court to find that a fair and impartial trial cannot be ensured in Dodge County.”
The charges
The proceedings remained in the Third Judicial District, but were moved to Austin.
The charges were filed after MNPrairie interviewed the victim in the case in December 2024.
According to the criminal complaint, the victim said Wyttenback engaged in sexual activity with her for more than two years, including oral, digital and genital penetration.
The first alleged assault occurred when both were camping in July 2022; the girl said she was awakened by Wyttenback touching her genitals under her clothing, which included penetration, the complaint says.
The girl said she confronted him the next morning; Wyttenback allegedly replied that “he didn’t know what he did, but if he did, then he did, and if he didn’t, then he didn’t.”
He also reportedly told her if she told her mother, he would go to jail.
The victim went on to say that Wyttenback had her touch his genitals and perform oral sex on him, court documents say.
The documents also outline the girl’s claims of sexual intercourse with Wyttenback, always without protection.
During the interview with MNPrairie, the alleged victim also said Wyttenback used a sex toy on her. She estimated the sexual contact occurred 20 times, the complaint says.
On Dec. 12, 2024, Dodge County investigators spoke to Wyttenback at the Olmsted County Adult Detention Center, where he had been taken after his arrest for terroristic threats, domestic assault and third-degree assault.
Wyttenback declined to speak to authorities without consulting with an attorney.
Pending case
In a second sexual abuse case, Wyttenback has pleaded not guilty to one count of second-degree criminal sexual conduct; a trial in that case has not been scheduled.
In that case, Wyttenback is accused of sexually assaulting a child while camping in September 2023.
According to the criminal complaint, the victim said she woke up to Wyttenback touching her bare buttocks. She told him multiple times that he was touching her inappropriately, to which Wyttenback allegedly replied: “This is what I was afraid of,” and “this is why I didn’t want to do this (expletive.)”
The girl said it was the only time he touched her in a sexual manner, the complaint says.
Previous case
Wyttenback was first arrested Oct. 31, 2024, when he was accused of multiple instances of physical child abuse.
In that case, he waived a jury trial, opting instead to have Groehler hear the evidence. She did, and on Dec. 23, 2025, found him guilty of two counts of terroristic threats; two counts of third-degree assault, past pattern of child abuse; and one count of domestic assault by strangulation, all felonies.
He was also convicted of one count of gross misdemeanor malicious punishment of a child, and two counts of misdemeanor domestic assault.
A single felony count of third-degree assault, past pattern of child abuse, was dismissed.
Sentencing was set for April 8, after this edition of the DCI went to press.
In that case, video footage from inside Wyttenback’s own home revealed him saying he would beat two children with a belt until they were no longer breathing; told the oldest child — who was under the age of 12 — to stop what they were doing or they would be breathing through a tube; and also told that child, “your last day is on my list,” the court documents say.
Later, that child can be seen lying on the floor, crying. When Wyttenback stands up from the couch, the child begins crawling backwards, seemingly afraid.
Wyttenback grabs the victim by the hair and drags them, uses a wooden object to hit the child multiple times, then picks the child up by the neck.
That’s when the younger child tells Wyttenback not to choke the victim, so Wyttenback throws the wooden object at that child and says, “you’re next.”
The older child is then thrown to the floor; when they stand up, Wyttenback shoves the child and “bends (their) wrist to an extreme,” the documents say.
The prosecution has asked for an upward departure to the sentencing guidelines, saying there is “no misconstruing the events that took place and were caught on the Ring camera video,” referring to Wyttenback’s statement that he “attempted to provide comfort to the children when they were misbehaving,” but that his actions were “misconstrued as illegal acts.”
Assistant County Attorney Kailee Thompson wrote that Wyttenback blamed the victims “when he was arrested and continues to blame them for his own actions.”
She asked Groehler to find Wyttenback “particularly cruel,” which would allow Groehler to impose a harsher sentence than guidelines recommend. The finding suggests the crime was heinous, often involving unnecessary pain or vulnerability.
Wyttenback, Thompson wrote, “turned their lives into a living hell.”