By Shereen Siewert
WAUSAU — A 30-year-old Wausau man awaiting sentencing on drug and child neglect charges is now accused of sexually assaulting the children of a woman he lived with.
Starr Beson faces two felony counts filed March 19 in Marathon County Circuit Court of first-degree sexual assault of a child younger than 13. During his initial appearance Monday, Circuit Judge Jill Falstad ordered Beson held on a $50,000 cash bond.
The two alleged victims, age 4 and 6, told investigators Beson improperly touched them, while the youngest girl told police Beson was lying on the bed naked while he was touching her, according to court documents. The alleged assaults happened between Feb. 1 and May 1, 2017.
The girls’ mother told police she was regularly using cocaine at the of the alleged assaults and “wasn’t paying attention to the signs,” according to the criminal complaint.
At the time the charges were filed, Beson was awaiting sentencing on a conviction handed down just three weeks earlier. On March 5, Beson was convicted of child neglect, battery, and drug charges and was to be sentenced May 25. Additional drug-related charges were dismissed as part of his plea agreement, but read into the record and can be considered for sentencing purposes.
Beson faces up to 120 years in the Wisconsin Prison System if he is convicted on the new charges. A preliminary hearing is set for March 28.
