Sheriff’s department clarifies housing status of recently released sex offenders

An announcement last week from the Oneida County sheriff’s department advising the public that a pair of convicted sex offenders would be staying temporarily in local hotels caused considerable concern in the community, so much so that housing plans for the two individuals were changed. In an Aug. 25 Facebook post, the sheriff’s office notified the public that convicted sex offenders Richard S. Loppnow and Alexander L. Valentine had completed their prison terms and would be residing, on a temporary basis, in separate hotels in the City of Rhinelander.
The department also sent press releases to local media announcing the news, a common step when sex offenders released into the community.
Soon after the sheriff’s office Facebook post went live, a representative for AmericInn in Rhinelander responded to the thread to clarify that the hotel was not advised that the reservation that had been made for a room in their facility was for a convicted sex offender.
“We will NOT be allowing him to stay at our FAMILY FRIENDLY hotel,” manager Erin Skinner wrote. “This is absurd!!!”
Later, Skinner posted an update clarifying that it was the Department of Corrections, not the Oneida County sheriff’s office, that made the reservation with notification.

“We will be notifying them in the morning that the reservation has been canceled and we will NOT allow him on our property,” Skinner wrote.
On Tuesday, Aug. 26 the Star Journal contacted sheriff’s captain Bob Hebein for clarification of the housing plans for the two individuals. He advised that he was awaiting information from the local probation office and would be issuing updated information as soon as a new housing plan was confirmed.
“Due to the lack of housing available through DOC (Department of Corrections) these issues ares coming up,” he wrote in an email to the Star Journal. “A sex offender was recently released in Vilas County as ‘homeless.’”
On Wednesday, Aug. 27, Hebein issued a pair of updated press releases explaining that neither of the two men would be staying at local hotels after all.
The Department of Corrections approved a transfer of Valentine’s supervision to La Crosse and Loppnow is now residing in Pelican Lake, he explained. “After the AmericInn in Rhinelander discovered the sex offender status of Valentine, his residency at the AmericInn was rescinded,” Hebein wrote. “The Oneida County Sheriff’s Office has no legal authority to direct where a sex offender may live. The Oneida County Sheriff’s Office role is to provide information to the public in an attempt to ensure safe neighborhoods when a sex offender is released into the community.”
As for Loppnow, Hebein clarified that he did not ever reside at the Quality Inn in Rhinelander, as was originally planned, but has moved into a residence at 2852 Plantation Road in Pelican Lake. The original release indicated that Loppnow would be staying at the hotel for a few days before moving to the Pelican Lake residence.
Loppnow, 45, was convicted in 2018 on two counts of third-degree sexual assault involving an adult female victim. Court records indicate a weapon was used during the commission of the crimes.
According to the release, he stands 6’3” and weighs approximately 230 pounds with brown hair and green eyes.
Valentine, 33, was convicted in 2019 of attempted second-degree sexual assault of a child and using a computer to facilitate a child sex crime. According to law enforcement records, Valentine arranged what he believed to be a sexual encounter with a minor female and was arrested at a predetermined meeting location. The arrest resulted from an undercover investigation conducted jointly by the Wisconsin Department of Justice and the Oneida County sheriff’s office. Valentine was employed as a teacher in the Crandon School District at the time of his arrest.
He stands 5’4” and weighs approximately 135 pounds with blonde hair and blue eyes.
Both men will remain under intensive supervision and monitoring protocols, the department stressed.