In re Happel
| Decision Date | 16 May 2022 |
| Docket Number | A21-1576 |
| Parties | In the Matter of the Civil Commitment of: Walter Johann Happel. |
| Court | Minnesota Court of Appeals |
This opinion is nonprecedential except as provided by Minn. R Civ. App. P. 136.01, subd. 1(c).
Jessica Buberl, J. Buberl Law, Osceola, Wisconsin (for appellant)
Pete Orput, Washington County Attorney, James Zuleger, Assistant County Attorney, Stillwater, Minnesota (for respondent)
Considered and decided by Cochran, Presiding Judge; Johnson, Judge; and Reyes, Judge.
Appellant challenges the district court's order civilly committing him as a sexually dangerous person (SDP) and as a sexual psychopathic personality (SPP). He argues that the district court erred by determining that he is an SDP and an SPP because the record does not support either determination. We affirm.
In 2015, at the age of 63, appellant Walter Happel pleaded guilty to and was convicted of four criminal offenses against child victims spanning over a period of more than 30 years. Happel entered his pleas pursuant to a plea agreement involving three different court files. His convictions consisted of first-degree criminal sexual conduct, second- and fourth-degree intrafamilial sexual abuse, and surreptitious interference with the privacy of a minor. Consistent with the plea agreement, the district court sentenced Happel to serve 120 months in prison. The district court further specified that the sentence included a minimum imprisonment term of 80 months (less credit for time served) with the remaining sentence to be served on supervised release.
In February 2021, in anticipation of Happel's release from prison, respondent Washington County (the county) petitioned to civilly commit Happel to the Minnesota Sex Offender Program as an SDP and/or an SPP. The district court held a three-day hearing on the matter in July 2021. During the hearing, the county submitted numerous documentary exhibits including criminal complaints, police reports, and presentence-investigation reports, which detailed Happel's criminal offenses and other misconduct. The district court also heard testimony from Happel, two court-appointed psychologists, Happel's adult foster son, and Happel's current wife. The following summarizes the testimony and other evidence presented during the hearing.
Before his incarceration, Happel worked as a custodian in the St. Paul school district for 30 years. In 2014, police began investigating Happel after an 11-year-old student reported that Happel had looked over and under a bathroom stall while the student was using the toilet. The investigation revealed numerous incidents of misconduct by Happel against young male students at the school that occurred primarily between 2011 and 2014. Multiple students reported that Happel routinely went into the boys' bathroom while students were present, looked at students through gaps in bathroom stalls while they were using the toilet, and used the urinal next to students while looking at them. One student disclosed that Happel once stood at a urinal next to the student and exposed his penis to the student. Another student reported seeing a man looking at him through a vent in the wall above the toilet. Investigators discovered that Happel had reversed vents in two boys' bathrooms, which allowed him to secretly watch students use the bathroom. A student also reported that Happel had leaned against him with an erect penis in the school lunchroom and made it appear as if it were an accident. On a different occasion, Happel slapped the student on the buttocks. Investigators also learned that Happel had been giving students candy. The school reprimanded Happel for slapping the student on the buttocks, entering the boys' bathroom with students present, and giving students candy.
Investigators also discovered that Happel had a "secret room" in the school to which he had changed the lock. Happel kept a cot, a children's blanket, a stuffed animal, a computer, and a packet of sexual lubricant inside the room. Happel admitted to investigators that he had masturbated in the "secret room" at least once. Based on this investigation of Happel's conduct at the school, Happel was charged with six counts of surreptitious interference with the privacy of a minor, second- and fourth-degree criminal sexual conduct, and fifth-degree criminal sexual conduct. As part of the plea deal, Happel entered an Alford plea[1] to one count of surreptitious interference with the privacy of a minor and the other charges were dismissed.
After the news broke regarding the 2014 investigation, Happel's adult son from his first marriage, A.H., contacted police. A.H. reported that Happel had sexually abused him when he was a minor, and A.H. provided police with the names of other family members and acquaintances whom Happel had abused. One of those individuals was D.W., Happel's nephew. D.W. told police that Happel had sexually abused him in the late 1970s to the early 1980s, when D.W. was eight to 12 years old. He reported several incidents in which Happel offered D.W. beer or cigarettes, played a pornographic movie, and fondled D.W.'s genitals over and under his clothing. One or both of Happel's oldest sons, A.H. and W.H., were present during some of these incidents, and Happel would sexually abuse A.H. and W.H. as well. On one occasion, Happel took numerous photographs of the boys' genitals. In another incident, Happel got on top of D.W. while D.W. was naked from the waist down. Happel then put his penis between D.W.'s thighs and ejaculated on D.W. Based on his sexual abuse of D.W., Happel pleaded guilty to second- and fourth-degree intrafamilial sexual abuse.
A.H. also informed police that Happel had abused B.J.S., a boy who lived in their neighborhood. B.J.S. told police that Happel sexually abused him between 1986 and 1988, while B.J.S. was approximately seven to ten years old. He reported that Happel once told him that they needed to shower together and that Happel repeatedly hit B.J.S. with his penis while in the shower. On another occasion, while B.J.S. was sleeping over at Happel's house, Happel fondled B.J.S.'s penis and took numerous naked photos of B.J.S. Happel then performed oral sex on B.J.S., got on top of B.J.S., and made B.J.S. put his penis in Happel's anus. Based on Happel's sexual abuse of B.J.S., Happel was charged with first- and second-degree criminal sexual conduct. Happel pleaded guilty to and was convicted of one count of first-degree criminal sexual conduct. The second-degree criminal-sexual-conduct charge was dismissed pursuant to the plea agreement.
In addition to the above convicted offenses, the state presented evidence at the hearing that Happel sexually abused several other children in the 1970s and 1980s. Happel has not been criminally charged based on these reports. Happel's additional victims included Happel's two sons from his first marriage (A.H. and W.H.), two nieces, two other nephews, and a nonrelative boy. They ranged in age from four to 16 years old at the time of the abuse, and Happel sexually abused all but one of them on several occasions. For instance, A.H. reported that Happel repeatedly sexually abused him from age four to 14 or 15. These individuals disclosed that Happel's sexual abuse included the following: fondling children's genitals over and under their clothing; digital penetration of two minor females; attempted vaginal penetration; orchestrating sexual contact between minor males; orchestrating sexual contact between a minor male and female; photographing and videotaping naked minor males and female; and showing naked pictures and videos of children to other children. A.H. also reported that Happel's sexual abuse of him involved "penetration in both directions."
During his testimony at the civil-commitment hearing, Happel denied sexually assaulting any children or engaging in any other sexual misconduct against children. When asked on cross-examination about his 2015 guilty pleas, he insisted that he had perjured himself regarding the factual bases for the guilty pleas to receive the benefit of the plea deal. During cross-examination, the county's attorney also called Happel's attention to several prior statements Happel had made to investigators and others in which he admitted to sexually abusing children or admitted to certain facts regarding his sexual abuse of children. In each instance, Happel either denied making the admission or said that he could not remember. Happel stated that he is not sexually attracted to children and denied ever telling investigators that he is.
Happel testified that he does not believe that he needs sex-offender treatment. He admitted that he had previously refused to do required sex-offender treatment while he was incarcerated at the Moose Lake correctional facility. He testified that he refused treatment because he "had not done anything wrong" and preferred the shorter program at another facility. Because he refused to participate in treatment Happel was required to serve an additional six months in prison. Happel also testified that he had not applied to or enrolled in a sex-offender treatment program at the time of the hearing. And he testified that he did not have a relapse-prevention plan in place if he were to be released because he believed he does not need one. Happel stated that if he were to be released, he would reside with his current wife in the same house in which he...
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