By Shereen Siewert | Wausau Pilot & Review
A 30-year-old Alabama man with a history of violent crimes against women and children is facing felony charges in Marathon County, after a woman told police he assaulted her in a Wausau hotel room and strangled her until she lost consciousness.
Logan Craft, a registered sex offender living in Montgomery, Ala., faces charges in Wausau of sexual assault, victim intimidation, false imprisonment, strangulation and suffocation and possession of a firearm after a felony conviction. If he is convicted, prosecutors will ask a judge to place Craft on lifetime supervision of serious sex offenders due to the seriousness of the offense.
Police say Craft was using an alias of Wesley Jerico Taylor when he traveled to Wausau in March to meet up with a woman he met online. When the woman ultimately decided she did not want to pursue a relationship, he allegedly attacked her from behind and strangled her until she passed out. When she awoke, Craft allegedly repeatedly assaulted the woman and recorded the attack on his phone. Police say Craft warned the woman if she ever told anyone he would post the video.
Months later, Craft allegedly tried again to reach the woman and ordered her to send explicit photos of herself, threatening to post the videos if she did not comply. The woman told police she filed a report in part because she was fearful Craft would return to Wausau and assault her again, as he knew her address.
Investigators suspected “Taylor” was not the man’s real name and submitted photographs to the Mid-States Organized Crime Information Center for facial recognition processing, which led police to a booking photograph of Craft. A tattoo unique to Craft also played a role in his identification.
Craft was arrested in 2017 after he was accused of sexually assaulting children and women, including choking one woman to make her unconscious to heighten his sexual pleasure, according to court documents and a Montgomery Advertiser report. He was charged with two counts of sexual abuse of a child less than 12 years old, one count of first-degree domestic violence by strangulation and one charge of first-degree sodomy.
According to the National Sex Offender Registry, Craft was convicted of first-degree sexual abuse in 2021 and released in 2022. Unknown is whether the 2021 conviction was related to the 2017 case. The Montgomery Alabama Sheriff’s Office lists Craft as in custody on a probation violation as of Feb. 6.
An arrest warrant was issued Jan. 31 for Craft by Circuit Judge Suzanne O’Neill, one day after local charges were filed. A date for an initial appearance has not yet been set.
