By Shereen Siewert
A Wausau mother accused of repeatedly abusing her children and allowing her boyfriend to abuse their infant daughter will avoid prison time if she successfully completes three years of probation.
Kassandra Meloy, 30, was given a withheld sentence earlier this month in Marathon County Circuit Court after reaching a plea deal in two separate cases. She was convicted Aug. 5 on charges of child neglect and bail jumping.
The latest case unfolded in August 2020 after the woman’s 3-year-old son was left unattended for hours and nearly jumped out a window of their Wausau home. Then, police were called to the 600 block of McClellan Street after a 911 caller reported seeing the boy hanging out of the window, which had a broken screen. The boy allegedly told the caller his 1-year-old sister was inside, that no parents were home and that he was planning to jump from the window.
When police arrived they persuaded the boy to come down from the window and answer the door. Inside they found the home in disarray, a strong odor of marijuana, beer cans strewn about the residence and a 1-year-old child with an extremely wet diaper and a severe case of diaper rash, according to court documents. Officers then called Child Protective Services to care for the children.
As police were investigating, a friend of Meloy came to the home who allegedly told officers that she and Meloy had been at a Schofield night club for about four hours and that Meloy asked her to return to the home to check on the children.
Meloy allegedly did not return home for several more hours.
Court records show Meloy was out on bond at the time she left her children alone. In a case filed in November 2019, Meloy was charged with two counts of child abuse-intentionally causing harm, two counts of child abuse/failure to prevent bodily harm, and a single count of encouraging a probation or parole violation.
Court records detail the investigation, which launched Nov. 11 in relation to a truancy case. In interviews, an 11-year-old child allegedly told investigators he was truant from school because he was staying home to prevent his mother’s boyfriend, Elton Carter, from shaking his infant sister.
Two of Meloy’s children said they were repeatedly beaten by Carter with hands and a belt. The children said they “got hit every day,” according to police reports. In addition, one of the children told investigators Meloy used a spoon to beat the children and directed one of the children to beat the other with the spoon, according to court documents.
One of the children said he regularly got a “whooping” on his back, buttocks and forehead and was having nightmares that frighten him.
As part of the plea agreement, all charges in the 2019 case were dismissed but read into the record at sentencing.
During sentencing, Circuit Judge Greg Strasser ordered Meloy not to have any contact with Carter. She is also required to undergo counseling and treatment as deemed appropriate by her probation agent, who will be located in Lincoln County.
