Former Wisconsin Rapids Attorney Has License to Practice Revoked After Convictions of Sexual Assault

Tuesday, June 2nd, 2026 -- 11:01 AM

(Karen Madden, Wisconsin Rapids Daily Tribune) A former Wisconsin Rapids attorney had his license to practice law revoked May 29 because of a conviction for two counts of misdemeanor fourth-degree sexual assault in May 2023.

According to Karen Madden with the Wisconsin Rapids Daily Tribune, Jerome J. Babiak, who is listed as a Marathon County attorney on the Wisconsin State Bar Association website, was suspended from practicing law Jan. 26, 2024, according to a Supreme Court order issued May 29, 2026.

The Wisconsin Office of Lawyer Regulation asked that the Wisconsin Supreme Court revoke Babiak's law license and Babiak appealed. A referee assigned to investigate the case recommended suspending Babiak's license to practice law for four years retroactive to the Jan. 26, 2024, suspension.

The Wisconsin Supreme Court deviated from the recommendation and instead revoked Babiak's law license. Babiak can petition to have his license reinstated after five years.

In 2022, Babiak was defending a man who had been charged criminally in Wood County Circuit Court, according to the court documents reporting the order. The defendant shared a child with his ex-girlfriend.

The defendant and ex-girlfriend were having a custody battle. The woman talked with Babiak to get information on her ex-boyfriend's criminal case for the custody case, according to the documents.

Babiak started using his personal cellphone to contact the woman instead of his office phone. He also began sending her messages through Snapchat. The messages started getting more and more suggestive and included sending explicit photos, according to court documents.

The woman said she played along with Babiak because she was afraid he would stop giving her information if she didn't play along. The woman became increasingly uncomfortable with Babiak's suggestions and began backing off his calls.

Babiak and the woman were at the courthouse at the same time on Aug. 30, 2022, when her ex-boyfriend had a court appearance. Babiak told the woman to go into a conference room.

Once inside, he grabbed her by the throat, pushed her against the wall, put his tongue in her mouth and touched her inappropriately, according to court documents. Babiak said it was time for him to go to court and told the woman to wait for him in the conference room.

The next time the woman saw Babiak was on Sept. 14, 2022, when he came to her apartment, according to the court documents. He grabbed her throat, touched her inappropriately and tried to have intercourse with her, according to the court documents.

The woman repeatedly told him "no" and that she had a video call scheduled. She was able to get away from him and went to the table, picked up her cellphone and pretended to look at it for her video call.

The woman hit record on her cellphone. Babiak could be heard asking her to take her pants off and have sexual intercourse, according to the court documents. She could be heard repeatedly telling him to stop. Babiak eventually relented, got dressed and left.

He told her her ex-boyfriend's court date had been moved on his way out, according to the documents. The referee assigned to look at the case said there was a pattern of misconduct shown by Babiak because assaults took place at two different locations on two different occasions, according to the court documents.

The woman was motivated to go along with him because she wanted the information he gave her for her custody case. The fact Babiak was an attorney also made it difficult for the woman to report the assaults, according to the documents.

The Supreme Court noted that one of the incidents was in the courthouse conference room just before an appearance. The court stated that the behavior, "Is so revealing of character defects, and so undermines public confidence in the legal profession, that it necessarily reflects adversely on (Babiak's) fitness as a lawyer."

Babiak's actions violated the "offensive personality" clause of the Attorney's Oath, according to the court documents.

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