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Racine sex assault case tests health record access

RACINE — The Wisconsin Supreme Court must decide whether defendants should get managed access to mental health records of an alleged molestation victim in a case tied to the criminal prosecution of a billionaire executive from Racine.

The Journal Times in Racine reported Sunday that Samuel Curtis Johnson's attorneys have been seeking therapy records of the 17-year-old girl that the SC Johnson heir is charged with molesting. Johnson, the one-time chairman of Diversey Inc., a cleaning products company spun off from SC Johnson, has pleaded not guilty.

Prosecutors say that Johnson, 57, had inappropriate sexual contact with the girl 15 to 20 times from 2007 to 2010, starting the summer after she finished the sixth grade. The girl and her mother, who no longer live in Wisconsin, have refused to release medical records.

Last fall, Racine County Circuit Judge Eugene Gasiorkiewicz ruled that defense attorneys should get access to the records, but that he would review them privately first and then provide only pertinent information to Johnson's attorneys and to prosecutors. The state Supreme Court will review that decision at a Feb. 25 hearing.

The criminal case against Johnson is on hold while the constitutional issues are resolved.

Johnson, who goes by Curt, is facing a count of repeated sexual assault of a child. It carries a maximum penalty of 40 years in prison and a $100,000 fine.

Johnson has since retired from Diversey. His brother is chairman and chief executive of SC Johnson, based in Racine, but company officials said when Curt Johnson was charged that he'd had no formal relationship with the company in almost 15 years.