The former Shattuck-St. Mary’s teacher accused of sexual misconduct with a student more than three decades ago was seen in court Wednesday morning, just two days after he posted bail.
Joseph Carl Machlitt, 63, arrived at the courthouse Wednesday wearing dress pants, a button-up shirt and v-neck vest — a change from the orange jail jumpsuit he sported a week ago for his arraignment. Court records show Machlitt posted non-cash bail on Monday, the same day attorney Anthony Torres faxed a letter of representation to the court.
Torres asked for the hearing — scheduled as an initial appearance — to be continued to a later date as he had just received discovery from the prosecution about a half hour before appearing in court. Torres said Machlitt would waive his right to a speedy trial.
A continued initial appearance is set for Dec. 18.
Machlitt, who now lives in St. Paul, was charged Nov. 21 with third-degree criminal sexual conduct and fourth-degree attempted criminal sexual conduct. He taught at S-SM as an art and photography teacher, as well as served as a dorm parent, from 1976 to 1980. Machlitt allegedly engaged in a sex act with a 14-year-old male student in 1980.
The now 46-year-old victim came forward after seeing news reports and social media network information about the charges against former S-SM drama teacher Lynn Seibel.
Conditions of Machlitt’s release include having no contact with the victim in the case, nor any unsupervised contact with anyone under the age of 18.