By Shereen Siewert

A jury trial is underway for a man who was charged with multiple felonies after an 8-year-old boy discovered walking down a highway told police he escaped a home in which he was tied up and forced to sit in his own waste for two days.

Nathan Pogrant, 39, of Eland, is being tried on charges of child abuse/intentionally causing harm; reckless child abuse with the probability of causing great bodily harm; six counts of false imprisonment; and multiple counts of bail jumping.

The charges were filed in Shawano County Circuit Court. Jury selection began early Monday.

Court documents state that the boy, who was hungry, dirty, and wearing large shoes that did not fit him was found Oct. 5, 2019 walking on Hwy. 45 and initially told police he had been dropped off there. But he later disclosed to investigators he had spent two nights locked in the basement, wearing a hooded “straight jacket” and tied to a chair with a cord around his body and bike locks on his legs. Investigators say the boy had bruises on his shoulder and face and what appeared to be a rope mark on his stomach.

The boy said he had only been fed a single peanut butter sandwich one day earlier, according to police, and said “Nathan” would play music and turn up the volume to drown out the sound of the boy’s crying.

The boy’s mother, who has not been charged with a crime, confirmed the boy’s story and said she didn’t know why she did not put a stop to the alleged abuse. The boy told police he escaped by loosening the hoodie and untying the cord around his stomach before wriggling out of the bicycle locks on his legs. While Pogrant and the boy’s mother were asleep, he crept away from the home and began walking.

Officers searched the home after the allegations were made. Court records show Pogrant, who previously lived in Weston, was out on a bond in two open Marathon County cases at the time the boy was found. In Marathon County, he faces charges of second-degree sexual assault with the use of force and third-degree sexual assault and a separate bail jumping charge. Those cases remain open.

An unnamed petitioner also filed a domestic abuse restraining order against Pogrant in 2016, court records show.

The trial is expected to stretch throughout the week.