Castalia man pleads guilty to sexually abusing child

By Seth Boyes,

A Castalia man charged with sexually abusing a child has entered a guilty plea, according to court records.

The Winneshiek County Sheriff’s Office was made aware of a possible sexual assault involving a young girl on Feb. 5, 2024. Court documents indicate the girl may have initially told her grandmother she had been abused by then Gerald Joseph Holthaus on multiple occasions at the then 72-year-old’s home. Filings in the case listed offenses as early as October of 2023 and as recently as approximately two weeks before word of the abuse reached law enforcement.  

The sheriff’s office searched Holthaus’ home the day after learning of the abuse. Holthaus initially told law enforcement “he had been picking up said child and bringing the child to his residence, because said child liked the cats and helped him with chores” but he denied performing any sexual acts on the child. Investigators seized items which, according to an initial criminal complaint, “corroborated statements made by the victim” — other court documents indicated the girl had provided details of the abuse to her grandmother, whom state prosecutors planned at one point to call as a potential witness. 

Holthaus was charged with three counts of second-degree sexual abuse later that same month, and he initially pleaded not guilty in a Feb. 29 filing. Trial had been scheduled for Oct. 30, but court documents indicate prosecutors reached a plea agreement in the case, and Holthaus was sentenced two days before the trail was to take place. 

Full article available in the November 7 Decorah Leader.

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