A jury has been chosen and was seated today in the prosecution of local pastor Monroe Mitchell III.  Mitchell, lead pastor at Agape Love Christian Church here in Kenosha, will stand trial in front of a jury of his peers beginning tomorrow December 13, 2024. The trial had previously been delayed to to late evidence form the prosecution.

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Mitchell was charged with one count of “Repeated Sexual Assault Of A Child” and two counts of “Attempted Fourth Degree Sexual Assault.” If convicted, Mitchell faces over 40 years behind bars, meaning he would likely be spending the rest of his life in prison.

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In court today were Sharmain Harris, his wife Tameka Harris and other supporters.. Tamika told me that I was “thirsty for an article” and I should “find a less dangerous job.” I’m unsure if that was a threat.

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According to the criminal complaint:

The now-16-year-old victim told her teacher on Thursday, September 15, 2022 that her grandfather, Monroe Mitchell III touched her private areas many times for the last year. She lived with him and her grandmother. The assaults started when she was 15. The young woman and her other grandmother talked to DCFS about in 2021, and she said “[DCFS] didn’t do anything.” After DCFS refused to act, she felt “trapped in a cage.” After Mitchell would touch her privates he would tell her to “keep it between us.” He would often enter her room when her underwear was the only thing on and ordered her to keep her bedroom door unlocked. She told a KPD detective that the assault happened most recently in the summer of 2022 – she said Monroe tried to touch her vagina under her shorts, but she resisted. Monroe denied the allegations to police.

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DCFS staff are mandatory reporters and KCE is unaware whether or not DCFS notified Kenosha police as they are required by law. DCFS is often criticized for not doing complete or any investigations, so many would blame this terrible mistake on the incompetence of the DCFS office here in Kenosha County, but we learned something alarming. Monroe Mitchell III is the father of Kenosha violent felon and Parkside professor, Sharmain Harris. We told you that Harris was making hundreds of thousands off of the County thanks to John Jansen, Kenosha County’s Director of Human Services. Samantha Kerkman did not renew this contract. Like his son, Mitchell is a convicted felon for selling crack. Like his son, Monroe has domestic abuse charges and convictions. Like his son, he has recently asked governor Tony Evers for a pardon. Like his son, DA Graveley supported Mitchell’s pardon. DA Graveley decided that his office taking this case isn’t a conflict of interest.

We emailed Ron Rogers and John Jansen to ask if the terrible mistake was due to incompetence, or if they intentionally told DCFS to “stand down” due to their relationship with Sharmain Harris. Rogers sent us an email this evening saying that he can’t comment on this case. There is no possibility for media or citizen oversight over DCFS because of the secrecy laws. This makes it incredibly easy for bureaucrats like Rogers and Jansen to evade scrutiny. This is evident in the extremely popular Netflix documentary “The Trials of Gabriel Fernandez.” The only people that can review this, is the County Board and the County Executive. They are aware of the deficiencies at Kenosha’s DCFS.

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DA Graveley is a big supporter of Monroe Mitchell’s son Sharmain. Both of these men have a very similar and extensive criminal history of domestic violence and selling drugs. Graveley nonetheless wants both men to have their felonies pardoned.

The trail is expected to last until Friday. It is presided over by Judge Anthony Milisauskas. The prosecutor is the outgoing Assistant District Attorney Alexandra Smathers (D).