Less than two days after a homeless man was convicted of battery, he allegedly broke into a woman’s home and threatened her.
Jerome Drapes, 63, is now charged with burglary, aggravated battery, theft, disorderly conduct and felony bail jumping for a July 27 incident in the town of Lind.
He also faces charges of lewd and lascivious behavior, mistreatment of animals and disorderly conduct for an Aug. 1 incident in the town of Helvetia.
On Tuesday, July 26, Drapes appeared before Judge Raymond Huber and pleaded no contest to charges of making terrorist threats, battery and disorderly conduct.
Huber convicted Drapes of the battery and disorderly charges, but withheld judgment on the felony threat charge.
He placed Drapes on two years of probation with the conditions that he undergo counseling and take his prescribed medications.
If Drapes successfully completes his probation, the felony threat charge will be dismissed.
Drapes had been in custody on a $2,500 cash bond since his arrest on those charges on June 16.
On Thursday, July 28, a woman told Waupaca County Deputy Pat Gorchals that Drapes stopped by her home in Lind the previous day. She told him to leave and never come back.
According to the criminal complaint, the woman later discovered her cellphone was missing because several friends on her phone’s contact list were receiving calls from Drapes.
In the early morning hours of July 28, Drapes allegedly entered the Lind woman’s home and confronted her about messages he read on her cellphone. The woman said Drapes slapped her face several times before she was able to persuade him to leave.
On Aug. 1, Drapes allegedly went to a woman’s home in the town of Helvetia and said he met her boyfriend, Fred Holbach, while they were both in jail.
The Helvetia woman told Deputy Traci LaBrosse that Drapes claimed Holbach told him he could move his camper onto their property.
The woman contacted Holbach, who denied giving Drapes permission to live there.
Later that day, Drapes allegedly yelled at and threatened to hurt the woman while he hit her two dogs with a stick.
She said Drapes also made sexually threatening comments to her, then pulled out his penis.
When the woman told Drapes to leave, he refused, the complaint says.
The woman then went to stay at her mother’s home in Waupaca because she was afraid Drapes would “rape or beat her or both.”
While she was at her mother’s home, Drapes allegedly called the woman several times and told her he wanted her to come back to Helvetia alone.
On Aug. 2, Sgt. Kevin Studzinski and Deputies Pete Kraeger and Gorchals went to the property in Helvetia, found Drapes inside a camper and arrested him.
When Gorchals interviewed Drapes regarding the incident in Lind, Drapes did not deny being on the woman’s property, but did deny he took her cellphone, although officers found it in his possession, the complaint says. He also denied slapping her.
The Helvetia woman’s mother told investigators Drapes also exposed himself to her. She told him to put it away.
Drapes currently remains in custody on a $5,000 cash bond.