Salem Man Found Guilty Of Three Serious Sexual Assault Charges

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James J. Tsakonas (19) Of Salem Lakes, WI
(Mugshot from Kenosha Sheriff)(Gavel File Photo by Kevin Mathewson, Kenosha County Eye)

A Kenosha County Jury found 19-year-old James J. Tsakonas guilty of three very serious sexual assault charged last Thursday, December 7, 2023. According to Assistant District Attorney Alexandra “Alex” Smathers, after the verdict was read, Tsakonas’s mother and girlfriend yelled at the two victims saying “Fuck you!” and “This isn’t over!” Because of this, Smathers asked for more Deputies for the February 19, 2024 sentencing of Tsakonas, which Judge Milisauskas approved.

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James J. Tsakonas (20) Of Salem Lakes, WI
(Kenosha County Sheriff)

According to the criminal complaint, the sexual assaults occurred in the Spring through Fall months of 2019. Tsakonas was 15 years old at the time and both of his victims were also 15 years old. Today, and during his trial, Tsakonas is 20 years old. The victims are 19 and 20.

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Tsakonas was accused of raping a friend of a family member in the Summer of 2019. He was also accused of raping his girlfriend when they were dating in the Spring of 2019, and sexually assaulting her while she was unconscious at a party after they broke up – Fall of 2019. The Kenosha County Sheriff’s Department lead the investigation.

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The victims made the reports to police in January of 2020, but Tsakonas wasn’t charged until September 8, 2020. He was waived into adult court. He was given a no-cash bail, meaning he was released from custody without having to pay any money. He remained out of custody until his conviction, when he was taken into custody.

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Assistant District Attorney Alexandra “Alex” Smathers
(File Photo by Kevin Mathewson, Kenosha County Eye)

ADA Smathers, the DA Office’s sexual assault prosecutor, has a high conviction rate. Before trial, she offered Tsakonas a plea deal. She offered to dismiss the most serious charge and one of the less-serious charges and recommend to the judge that Tsakonas gets probation and no jail or prison. Tsakonas rejected the offer.

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Salem Lakes Attorney, Ted Kmiec
(File Photo by Kevin Mathewson, Kenosha County Eye)

Attorney Ted Kmiec wasn’t able to defeat the state’s evidence with it’s burden of proof.

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Jury Seating In Judge Milisauskas’ Courtroom
(File Photo by Kevin Mathewson, Kenosha County Eye)

The jury unanimously found Tsakonas guilty of two counts of 3rd degree sexual assault and one count of 2nd degree sexual assault/unconscious victim. The verdict was reached the day after a three-day trial.

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Kenosha County Circuit Court Judge Anthony Milisauskas
(File Photo by Kevin Mathewson, Kenosha County Eye)

Tsakonas will be sentenced by Judge Anthony Milisauskas on February 19, 2024. He faces up to a maximum of 60 years in the Wisconsin prison system.

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70 Responses

  1. Let’s be honest. This isn’t about the kid, it’s about who his lawyer was.

    That being said, I would hope Kmiec advised him strongly to take the plea….however we don’t know if the kid still insisted on going to trial. More facts are needed. Stupid decision on it’s face, though…..

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    1. how are you going to blame a lawyer for his wrongdoings? He was the one who raped those two innocent females not the lawyer. stupid fuck. The only thing the lawyer did wrong was defending a rapist.





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    2. how are you going to blame a lawyer for his wrongdoings? He was the one who raped those two innocent females not the lawyer. The only thing the lawyer did wrong was defending a rapist.

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  2. Something doesn’t sound right about this. I too would hope that Kmiec strongly advised him to take that deal. I know of a couple of people from this area who are spending quite a bit of time in prison and claiming Kmiec screwed them over. I’ve also heard more horror stories about others. Not to mention past articles I’ve read here in the KCE. I definitely wouldn’t risk hiring him. Sounds really shady!!

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    1. first of all “Mr.Common Sense” u have nun. second who literally cares ab what u have to say. Third who cares ab the lawyer? we’re talking about the disgusting behavior this gremlin did. And trust the lawyer tried his best but its hard defending a rapist.

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  3. That’s the face of a boy who has been drug through the mud by false alligations, since he was 15. Tell me how you’d look

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    1. Wait, what? Are you really saying he was falsely accused? Please tell me it’s sarcasm behind that comment and not stupidity…

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    2. ”Attorney Ted Kmiec wasn’t able to defeat the state’s evidence with it’s burden of proof.” are the “false allegations” in the room with us?

  4. He looks 40! What a dumbass for not taking the plea deal! No matter what the attorney said he could have taken it🤦‍♀️

    1. Sounds like he comes from a cocky ass family! He was most likely guilty, but still could’ve avoided jail. He most likely didn’t just take the deal because he, and the family, would still look bad unless found not guilty of all charges. Not to mention obvious friction between his family, and the victims family’s. Their cockiness, because of their pride, just caught up to them, finally!!! The other problem was their ignorance in choosing an attorney. Have a nice day….😀

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      1. Sounds like you don’t even know his family so why are you speaking on their behalf? Everyone needs to leave this kid alone. There was no physical evidence, all accusations of girls who have ill will towards him. Didn’t seem like they cared about the supposed assault while dating him? Show me physical evidence and we can talk, that jury made a horrible decision and he was given a horrible case on the account of Kmiec who is know to be a horrible lawyer.

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        1. Ill towards him because HE RAPED them !! Oh and he will be left alone , he s right where he needs to be, when he gets to the big house I hope karmas a Bitch!!

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        2. “Didn’t seem like they cared about the supposed assault while dating him” sorry but dating or not, not giving consent is rape. Educate yourself. There might not have been physical evidence but a jury whom heard both sides of what happened determined he’s guilty. They did right by those girls and all the others girls too afraid to come forward for fear of what retaliation they would encounter from his family. Sounds like you don’t know the family either.

      2. His family is soooo cocky! His mother knows he’s been doing this to girls since he was a child, so why wasn’t anything done about it? You can pay all the money in the world, but it doesn’t change the fact that her sons a rapist.

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  5. I think the whole thing is sad. There was no physical evidence. The girls waited months before saying anything. It was a she said he said between drinking and/or drug using 15yo teens. Really scary stuff. And I can not believe the DA would wait more than 4 years to bring this to trial. How dangerous could this kid really be then??? With no past or present history of this kind of behavior. I sure hope the punishment is in measure with the age and behavior of all involved.

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    1. he does have a past record of raping a girl when they were 13 but bc he was so young he was only judicated and not made public record of his offense

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    2. ur sad for defending a rapist. how about you reread the WHOLE article then come comment. Im assuming you wont since you didn’t the first time. HES GUILTY. thank you merry christmas happy new year, kiss my ass , kiss ur ass, kiss his ass 🙂

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    3. If only you knew, there are a lot more victims than you think!! Took 4 years because of the court and His lawyers postponed date after dates, hope he gets the 60 years !!🤷‍♀️

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    4. If you were educated on the case, you’d know Kmiec continued to push the case back because they didn’t have any evidence and obviously just wanted the girls to back down. Also covid, you cannot go to trial on a zoom call. These girls deserve the peace they have now.

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  6. Typical Kenosha DA office taking a peer on peer, juvenile sex act and bringing the guy to adult court. Ok, if he is guilty, his sentence should be as a juvi, not an adult.
    Those victim witness zealots want to hang every guy for as a long as possible. They look for every possible charge too. Don’t get me wrong, if he was 30 and she was 15 I’d hand him too. But this is not the case, 948.093 (Underage Sexual Activity-a misdemeanor) should apply to one of those charges.

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  7. WTH! This lawyer and this kid’s family should be ashamed. Only called two defense witnesses both of whom were relatives. Why didn’t this family do more to protect this kid? Now they want to “bring him home”? Please. Commissary money. Game over for him.

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    1. If only you know what that family went through, they have done more than enough to protect this kid. If you keep running your mouth it’s gonna be game over for you so shut your mouth unless you know the whole story.

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      1. Prosecutor had to have enough to charge
        Here say is not enough – this was a long time on the making
        Check the court record
        Should have done better.

      2. the problem started with the parenting and then continued with him continuing to get let off easy for doing these terrible things

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      3. “if only you knew what his FAMILY went through?!!!! “ wow.

        If only you knew what his victims went through with the CONSTANT harassment from his family and girlfriend these past 4 years. It’s disgusting to see the amount of support this guy got with 9 allegations. Unfortunately, the 7 other girls were too scared to press charges and speak up at court because of the reputation his family has for being fucking nutjobs and going above and beyond to support their rapist family member . But hey, you know the whole story, right?

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        1. The Tsakonas family is a bunch of coke sniffing, trifling ass b*tches. The alcoholic mom actively harassed these young girls throughout their high school careers, which resulted in severe bullying/rumors/social media posts etc…. I watched this whole case from start-finish. Imagine paying 2 lawyers and all these court fees for a 5 year case, just to go in debt and his ass still landed in jail. Hope mommy has your commissary, although ramen won’t stop a broom stick up your ass.

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      4. “They have done more than enough to protect this kid” when they should have been protecting others FROM this “kid”

  8. C’mon you guys. Kmiec is not the shittiest attorney in town. You can go much worse than K man. Kmiec is a class C. Unfortunately there are attorneys Class D out there.

  9. I love how this up with all the crap people are saying about this kid, but Anthony Kanabay murdered someone and that article was taken down.

  10. Every one has an opinion
    What’s done is done
    Time to accept this new reality
    Maybe he will be exonerated one day if he’s truly innocent.

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  11. One more POS off the streets!! Hope he’s waking the hell up now suffering mentally the rest of his life like his victims are!!
    Enjoy James , Happy Holidays

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    1. The whole family is messed up in their sexual relations. Both the mother and father are cheaters, getting it from whoever they want, the son is a rapist, taking it from whoever he wants and the daughter is quick to lay down with men twice her age. It’s no wonder why his only witnesses were family members.

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  12. This is clearly an extremely troubled individual, and thinking it would be okay to work with special needs kids when facing these charges, who allowed that to happen, he is where he should be and I’m happy the girls have gotten justice, but when will the parents see their day in court. Rape accusations at the mere age of 13 and they turned a blind eye when they knew it could potentially happen again. The signs were there. They looked the other way.

  13. Wow . Shudda took the plea — but I get why he fought it because even with the plea you are a registered sex offender the rest of your life

  14. Dude I’m just now reading this &’ am a friend of the mothers and all I can say is, first off anyone talking shit about the family is wrong and I hope you’re never in this type of situation. To sit and laugh at someone’s pain is silly because that could be you in blink of an instant.
    Second, his lawyer should’ve had him take the plea deal.
    Third, don’t underestimate how far young jealous little girls will go to try and destroy someone’s life.

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    1. Being a friend of the mothers I’m sure you only heard one side of the story. As a friend of the mothers you know how often she frequents the bar drinking and drugging leaving her children to do whatever they want or in this case whoever they want. If anything she should be sitting right there with him.

  15. Let’s not point blame at the mother. I don’t care what she does in her free time. You can be an amazing parent and your child can still make horrible decisions. I’ve seen it many times. Be carful pointing the finger. That shit comes back to you

  16. As for it being in her house
    This shit could’ve happened in any parents home. Kids are sneaky at that age. You think being strict would’ve prevented this? Strict creates even MORE sneaky.

    1. strict doesn’t matter in this case she never was. she condoned everything her children did. Her kids ran around with drugs weed vapes alcohol you name it. the mom is a drunk. dad isn’t in the picture he has animal abuse charges and felonies. and the stepdad is an also a violent drunk. just a fucked up family

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  17. rapist son, coke head mommy, abusive daddy, and a nasty treesh daughter. this is why they needa keep abortion legal. just a waste of space

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  18. rapist son, coke head mommy, abusive daddy, and a nasty treesh daughter. this is why they needa keep abortion legal. just a waste of space !

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  19. i love the tsakonas kids🫶🏼 all yall trifling🤚🏻yall sound so dumb talkin bout james family members like yall know shit abt em🤚🏻 #justiceforjames #jesuslovesyou

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