Child Sexual Assault Defense Attorney in Menomonie, WI
A child sexual assault charge is one of the most serious allegations a person can face in Wisconsin, and the accusation alone can cost you your job, your family, and your standing in the community long before a court weighs any evidence. If you have been accused of a child sexual assault offense in Menomonie or anywhere in Dunn County, you need experienced defense counsel immediately, before you speak with investigators and before you turn over any phone or device. Cohen Law Offices defends the accused in exactly these cases, and our phones are answered 24 hours a day at
715-514-5051.
What a Child Sexual Assault Charge in Wisconsin Involves
Wisconsin charges child sexual assault under Wis. Stat. § 948.02, with repeated acts against the same child charged under Wis. Stat. § 948.025. The degree of the charge, whether first, second, or third, turns on factors such as the age of the alleged victim, the nature of the alleged conduct, and the relationship between the people involved. Even a third-degree charge carries significant prison exposure. First-degree and second-degree offenses are Class B and Class C felonies that can mean decades behind bars, and a conviction triggers mandatory sex offender registration under Wis. Stat. § 301.45, a consequence that follows a person for years after any sentence ends. Because the classification often decides everything, the charge itself is where a real defense begins.
How These Cases Move Through Dunn County
Child sexual assault cases from Menomonie are prosecuted at Dunn County Circuit Court. Most begin quietly, through a report from a mandated reporter such as a teacher, a doctor, or a family member, and move to a recorded forensic interview of the child at a child advocacy center. That interview is frequently the state's single most important piece of evidence. Investigators may then seek warrants for phones, computers, and cloud accounts and ask to question the accused. By the time formal charges are filed, the version of events in the complaint may have been shaped over weeks or months, often before the accused even knew they were a suspect. What you say, and decline to say, during that window materially affects what the state can use later.
How Our Menomonie Defense Team Approaches These Cases
Every case requires a fact-specific investigation before any strategy takes shape. Our work typically includes several parallel efforts:
- Preserving evidence early: digital messages, alibi records, and witness contacts can disappear or be forgotten, so we move to secure them right away.
- Running an independent investigation: law enforcement builds its file for the prosecution, so we conduct our own defense-focused review of the same facts.
- Challenging the forensic interview: we review the recording for leading or suggestive questioning and for methods that fall short of accepted standards.
- Testing the state's experts: where the prosecution offers medical or psychological opinions, we examine the basis for them rather than accepting them at face value.
- Filing suppression motions: statements, searches, and identifications obtained in violation of your rights can be kept out, which can reshape a case well before trial.
- Because we appear regularly in Dunn County Circuit Court, we also know how the local prosecutors and judges handle these matters, which shapes how we approach pretrial hearings and negotiations.
Why the First Hours Matter
In Menomonie, these investigations often begin before charges are filed. If an officer has contacted you for questioning, if you have been told you are a person of interest, or if charges have just been filed, the time to involve a lawyer is now, not after the preliminary hearing. Statements made without an attorney present are almost always used against the accused, and devices handed over without advice can supply the state with evidence it did not otherwise have. Michael R. Cohen and the team, including attorneys Karleigh Miller, Alicia Linzmeier, and David Olson, are reachable at 715-514-5051. The firm holds an AV Preeminent rating from Martindale-Hubbell and has appeared on the Wisconsin Super Lawyers list every year from 2018 through 2025.
Frequently Asked Questions About Child Sexual Assault Charges in Menomonie
Can a child sexual assault charge be filed on an accusation alone?
Yes. In Wisconsin a charge can proceed on testimony without physical evidence, which is one reason the defense has to start early. The period between an accusation and a formal charge is where the record gets shaped, and what a suspect says during it often decides what the state can use at trial.
What are the penalties for child sexual assault in Wisconsin?
They are among the most severe the state imposes. Charges under Wis. Stat. § 948.02 range from third degree up to first degree, and a conviction carries prison exposure measured in years or decades plus mandatory sex offender registration. The degree depends on the alleged conduct and the ages involved.
Should I speak with investigators in Dunn County before I am charged?
Not without a lawyer present. If police have contacted you or called you a person of interest, that is the moment to retain counsel. Statements made without an attorney are difficult to walk back and are almost always used against the accused.
Can these charges be reduced or dismissed?
Sometimes, depending on the evidence and how it was gathered. Charges have been reduced or dismissed where a forensic interview was improperly conducted, where the timing of a report did not match the state's theory, or where the state could not meet its burden. Every case turns on its own facts, and past results do not guarantee future outcomes.
Contact Cohen Law Offices
in Menomonie, WI
Our office is at 17 S Barstow St, Eau Claire, WI 54701, and we defend clients throughout Dunn County, including Menomonie and the surrounding communities. If you want a broader look at how we handle these cases, our sexual assault defense page covers the firm's approach to sex crime allegations generally. Call 715-514-5051 for a confidential consultation. The earlier we start, the more of the case we can still shape.
