A Brown County court has vacated the conviction of a 51-year-old man who spent 17 years in prison for a sexual assault he didn’t commit.
Mario Vasquez walked out of court on Jan. 30 a free man. The 1989 charges of sexually assaulting a 4-year-old girl were dismissed after Wisconsin Innocence Project attorneys found evidence that someone else had assaulted the girl.
Attorney Cristina Borde said an inadequate investigation by prosecutors led to a double tragedy.
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“The system failed this poor child and the system failed Mr. Vasquez, who was wrongfully incarcerated for 17 years for something he didn’t do. And now we know in fact that she was being sexually abused at her home by her father and her uncle,” Borde said. “And Mr. Vasquez, who was the brother-in-law of the babysitter and has maintained his innocence for 17 years, was not abusing her.”
Vasquez said he plans to seek financial compensation from the state for the years he spent in prison.
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