SHEBOYGAN — A volunteer firefighter with the Town of Wilson was charged with repeatedly sexually assaulting a young girl.
After our sister station TMJ4 broke the story on Tuesday, the parents of the alleged victim reached out to me, saying they were ready to share their side of the story.
26-year-old volunteer firefighter charged with repeated sexual assault of a child
To protect their daughter, we’ve decided not to reveal their identities.
“It broke my heart. I felt disgusted, I cried…guilt for myself because I thought it was my fault,” the mother said. “I threw up. Couldn’t eat, sleep.”
After finding suicidal messages on their daughter's phone in early January, they took her to the emergency room. It was there that they were told she admitted to being sexually assaulted by a close family friend.
26-year-old Spencer Husak is accused of sexually assaulting the Sheboygan couple’s daughter multiple times between 2019 and 2022. At the time, she was between the ages of 8 and 11.
According to the criminal complaint, the victim told investigators that Husak forced her onto his lap and touched her inappropriately.
“I never suspected it,” the mother told me. “It was someone who’d been in the family since 2015.”
If convicted, Husak faces up to 60 years in prison.
“I felt a lot more anger,” the stepfather said. “I think knowing that I wasn’t able to do anything to stop it because we didn’t know anything about it… Just having his name come up, she shuts down.”
During the interview, I asked what their goal was in prosecuting Husak — Justice for their daughter, they said.
“It’s one less person off the streets. It’s one less person we have to worry about hurting someone else,” the step-father said. “He’s been around kids being on the fire department. Who knows what else he’s done to whoever else.”
Husak isn’t the first Sheboygan County firefighter to be accused of a child sex crime.
Sheboygan Falls Assistant Fire Chief John Albright was charged with 2nd-degree sexual assault of a child. His case is ongoing.
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Watch: Couple speaks out after daughter allegedly sexually assaulted by firefighter
The couple said, unfortunately, it was their daughter who fell victim this time.
"You don’t know someone 100% until their secrets come out from behind closed doors," the mother noted.
They said it was important to share their side of the story so others can feel empowered to speak up too.
"It’s going to hurt you more in the long run if you don’t," the stepfather insisted. "It’s going to allow that person to hurt more people if you don’t say something."
"Once you realize that this is happening in your community, you just want to protect all the other kids," the mother added. "You want to be mama bear for anyone who’s been in this situation."
The couple shared that their daughter has struggled a lot in the last few years, but they’re hoping to get her on the road to healing.
"She’s being heard finally," the mother said.
"It’s been a long road," the stepfather added. "But she’s come a long way."
