Former Catholic priest was originally placed in Gleason in June
By Jalen Maki
Tomahawk Leader Co-Editor
The Lincoln County Sheriff’s Office has announced that convicted sex offender David J. Malsch, 80, is residing at N2345 Memorial Drive, Merrill, as of Saturday, July 13. He was released June 19 and was residing at N4883A Lilac Lane, Gleason.
Malsch, a former Roman Catholic priest, was the subject of a June 11, 2019 Tomahawk Leader story describing his history of sexually molesting boys while with the church, and how the Archdiocese of Superior repeatedly chose to send him to treatment and transfer him to different parishes, where he had regular contact with young boys, including those with emotional issues and learning disabilities, rather than report his actions to authorities.
Malsch was accused of sexually abusing three boys while serving at St. Patrick Church in Superior between 1979 and 1984. He was sent to a treatment facility in Minnesota for “alcohol and sexual problems” and was transferred to St. Mary in Tomahawk in 1986. In March 1991, while Malsch was serving as an associate pastor at St. Mary, the Lincoln County Sheriff’s Department began investigating allegations that he had sexually assaulted a Tomahawk boy, 14, with learning disabilities at a hotel in Wausau that February.
In September 1992, Malsch was charged with having sexual contact with a person who had not attained the age of 16, Class C felony charge of child enticement and a misdemeanor sexual exploitation charge. He was found guilty of the child enticement charge in October 1993 and was sentenced to one year in jail and eight years of probation.
Malsch was sentenced to nine years in federal prison in December 2005 for possessing child pornography while residing at Wounded Brothers Recon Facility, a treatment center for troubled former clergy in Robertsville, Missouri, about 45 miles southwest of St. Louis, where he was sent in 2001.
On December 3, 2018, the Court ordered a Supervised Release Plan be developed for Malsch, and on May 24, 2019, a hearing was held and the Court approved the Supervised Release Plan, according to the Lincoln County Sheriff’s Office.
Malsch was released to the community on Supervised Release. Upon release, Malsch was placed on Intensive Supervision, and will be subject to the Global Positioning System (GPS). Malsch was required to register with the Wisconsin Sex Offender Registry Program for life.
The Wisconsin Sex Offender Registry can be located at https://appsdoc.wi.gov/public.