Laura Schulte
MADISON - A former Northwoods priest convicted of sexually assaulting young boys in the 1980s has a parole hearing set for July.
According to a source familiar with the case, Thomas Ericksen will go before the parole board on July 22.
Ericksen is eligible for parole on Sept. 11, according to Wisconsin's inmate locator. His mandatory release date is set for Dec. 5, 2032.
He was formerly denied parole in 2022.
Ericksen, 75, was sentenced to 30 years in prison in 2019 on two charges of sexually assaulting boys while stationed at St. Peter's Catholic Church in Winter in the 1980s. He is also registered as a sex offender for life.
He was given 20 years on one charge and 10 years on the other. He was credited with 314 days of time served in jail since his arrest, both in Minnesota before he was extradited and in Wisconsin. He is currently being held in the Jackson Correctional Institution in Black River Falls.
The sentence was described as an "indeterminate" prison term, meaning the judge didn't have control over how long Ericksen would actually serve before he's paroled. He was eligible for parole as early as December 2019, just three months after he was sentenced. He was also eligible in 2020 but waived his opportunity to go before the Parole Commission.
At least 11 men claimed that the former priest abused them as children or teens in multiple counties across the Northwoods of Wisconsin, either by filing reports with police or speaking with USA TODAY NETWORK-Wisconsin reporters. The former priest was arrested in November 2018, nearly a decade after victims first began sharing their stories with Sawyer County investigators.
Parole consideration is given only for inmates who committed a crime before Dec. 31, 1999. That was before Wisconsin enacted what's known as a "truth in sentencing" law, which means inmates generally must serve the entire sentence given to them by the court, with some exceptions for early release.
Because Ericksen committed the crimes before that law passed, his prison term is up to the Parole Commission based on his behavior while incarcerated.
Generally, inmates serving indeterminate sentences must serve at least a quarter of their sentence and must be released after two-thirds of their sentence. Using that framework, Ericksen would be required to serve at least 7.5 years in prison and would be released after 20 years.
Laura Schulte can be reached at leschulte@jrn.com and on X @SchulteLaura.
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