Abby man charged with sexual assault

By Kevin O Brien

An Abbotsford man has been charged with felony sexual assault and false imprisonment in connection with an alleged incident that happened near Tomahawk two summers ago.

Seth Pinter, 35, faces up to 40 years in prison if convicted of just one of the assault charges filed against him earlier this month in Lincoln County Circuit Court. The charges include four counts of second-degree sexual assault and two counts of false imprisonment, all stemming from a pair of alleged attacks that reportedly occurred in the early morning hours of Aug. 6,2023.

The assault charges indicate that he was accused of having sexual contact with someone against their will and engaging in sexual conduct with someone “who was under the influence of an intoxicant to a degree which rendered that person incapable of giving consent.” The false imprisonment charges specify that he allegedly restrained the victim.

Pinter appeared in court last Friday for an initial hearing at the courthouse in Merrill and was released on a $5,000 signature bond, with the condition that he have no contact with the alleged victim and that he report to Lincoln County Jail for booking.

A motion to dismiss the charges was filed by Pinter’s attorney, Peter C. Rotter, but the court did not take action on the motion, according to online court records. A preliminary hearing was set for April 30.

According to the criminal complaint, the alleged victim reported the incident to police shortly after it happened, and a medical exam revealed that she had several fresh bruises and scratches throughout her body.

The victim told a Lincoln County deputy that she had been at a bachelorette party that night with several of her friends, and they ended up at the same bar as Pinter and his friends.

The victim said both she and Pinter were intoxicated and that Pinter said “let’s get you home” while she was standing outside the bar with some of her friends. The victim said said she’s unsure of how he was able to get her away from her friends without them noticing and thought that he may have grabbed her arm.

The complaint states that Pinter allegedly took the victim to a cabin and began engag-

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ing in sexual contact with her. The victim said she repeatedly made it clear to him that she did not consent, but he allegedly held her down and told her to shut up. She said the initial assault stopped after she fell out of a bed and hit her head.

A second assault allegedly occurred a short time later when the victim woke up on the ground on a wooded peninsula near the cabin they had been in. The victim said she was unsure of how she got out there, but Pinter was again attempting to have sexual contact with her against her will, according to the complaint.

At some point, the other members of the bachelorette party noticed the victim was missing and started calling her cell phone.

The victim said Pinter stopped the assault after she heard her phone ringing and told him that her friends would find her.

The victim she said turned ran away from Pinter into some nearby woods. The victim told the deputy that she had never been more scared in her life Eventually, with the help of someone who was staying in a cabin with Pinter, the victim’s friends were able to locate her.

Pinter was originally charged with third and fourth-degree sexual assault shortly after the alleged incident occurred in 2023, but those charges were dismissed on April 2, just two days before the current charges were filed by the Lincoln County District Attorney’s office.