By Shereen Siewert
WAUSAU — A 20-year-old Wausau man who made headlines in November after several emaciated and four dead cows were found at his family’s farm will spend three years in prison, after being sentenced earlier this month on child sex charges.
Joshua Litza was convicted Aug. 9 of possessing child pornography and exposing a child to harmful material. Litza will also spend three years on extended supervision following his release from prison and will be required to undergo sex offender treatment and a psychosexual evaluation.
Litza was already facing the child sex charges when a Marathon County deputy discovered the dead and starving animals at the farm, which is in the town of Norrie. As a result, Litza faced two counts of intentionally failing to provide food to animals, four counts of failing to timely dispose of an animal carcass and one count of felony bail jumping.
As part of a plea agreement, those charges were dismissed but were considered at sentencing. Circuit Judge LaMont Jacobson presided over the case.
Court documents state that Litza was in charge of caring for the cattle while his father, the owner of the farm, was away. No charges have been filed against Litza’s father or any other family member connected to the farm.
