A former Burlington youth pastor who served a prison sentence for having a sexual relationship with a teenage girl, is now facing similar charges for having sexual contact with two infant girls 10 years ago.
Scott A. Hoppe, 37, was charged last week in Racine County Circuit Court with two counts of sexual assault of a child after he allegedly admitted to several people that he molested two infant girls he was caring for sometime between April 2000 and May 2002 at a Burlington residence.
Hoppe was released from prison Nov. 8 after serving nearly four years for conviction on separate charges of child enticement in Racine and Walworth counties. Those charges stemmed from a multiyear sexual relationship Hoppe forged with a girl who was 15 at the time the relationship began. The victim was a babysitter for Hoppe’s family and a member of one of the youth groups Hoppe led at Grace Church in Burlington.
Hoppe was fired shortly after church officials learned of the charges in 2006. The church also revoked Hoppe’s license to preach in an attempt to prevent him committing a similar crime in the future.
Hoppe was chastised by the victim’s family at his sentencing in 2008 for not only taking advantage of a vulnerable girl, but an entire church community.
The latest charges, according to the criminal complaint filed last week, were initiated after Hoppe’s probation agent learned of the alleged decade-old assaults while talking to Hoppe’s sister.
Hoppe, who has been living in a transitional apartment in Racine, was subsequently interviewed by an investigator with the Racine County Sheriff’s Department and allegedly admitted to the incidents.
He told the investigator he had inappropriate sexual contact with the girls – who where approximately three months old at the time – once each on separate occasions.
According to the complaint, Hoppe made a similar disclosure to at least four other people, including his wife, mother, sister and a Racine pastor. The later conversation allegedly occurred because Hoppe had asked the pastor to serve as a chaperone as part of his transitional/probation program. The pastor told the investigator the conversation took place by telephone and was not part of an official religious confession.
A preliminary hearing in the case was scheduled for Wednesday.
If convicted of the Class B felony charges, Hoppe faces maximum imprisonment of up to 60 years for each count.
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