Bishop Charged With Sexual Assault of 11-Year-Old Girl

By Dan O'Donnell

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  • Joe W. Fox

MILWAUKEE - The bishop of a church on Milwaukee's north side was charged Friday with six counts of sexual assault of a child, the Milwaukee County District Attorney's Office announced.

Joe W. Fox, Sr., 60, was charged with one count of first degree sexual assault of a child under age 13 and five counts of second degree sexual assault of a child under age 16.

According to a criminal complaint, Fox began a sexual relationship with one of his parishioners when she was just 11 years old.

"[The victim] states that the sexual intercourse happened too many times for her to be able to put a number of it and she states that all the incidents are very similar and it's hard to remember exactly what he said each time," but that each time he had "either given her money or taken her shopping for clothes or has taken her to get her hair done or bought her a cell phone."

She claimed Fox gave her between $50 and $100 after each sexual encounter.

Fox faces a maximum sentence of more than 260 years in prison and $500,000 in fines if convicted on all six charges.