Police: Sex offender strikes again
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By MARK GUNDERMAN mailto:mark.gunderman@lee.net
Thursday, December 6, 2007 10:12 AM CST
A convicted sex offender was arrested Monday for sexually assaulting a 15-year-old girl, only days after being released from jail for sexually assaulting a 16-year-old.
Sean M. Erickson, 22, is currently being held in the Chippewa County jail on a probation hold. He was re-booked into the jail on Monday on a charge of second degree sexual assault of a child.
He had just been released from custody on Nov. 26.
Erickson pleaded guilty on June 29, 2007 to a felony charge of third degree sexual assault of a child. He was placed on probation for three years and ordered to serve a year in jail.
By that time, he had already accumulated 216 days of credit for time served, making his release date Nov. 22.
Chippewa Falls Chief of Police Wayne Nehring said officers were assigned to investigate a report of a group of runaway juveniles at a residence on the city’s west side.
Officers took some juveniles into custody and during the course of the investigation learned of an allegation of sexual contact between Erickson and a 15-year-old female.
Nehring said the sexual contact was believed to be consensual, but under the law a 15-year-old is not old enough to consent.
Erickson was taken into custody and booked into jail that afternoon. Nehring did not know whether Erickson was apprehended at the same time as the juveniles or if he were arrested later at a different location.
In May 2006, Erickson was charged with second degree sexual assault without a person’s consent, and a misdemeanor charge of sexual assault of a child age 16 at the time, from a June 2005 incident.
According to the complaint, he took the girl to his Lake Hallie residence, began making sexual advances and had sex with her, despite her continued statements that she was uncomfortable with his advances and wanted him to stop.
While that case was pending, he was arrested for a bond violation for allegedly having contact with underage girls.
A bond jumping charge was dismissed when Erickson pleaded guilty to the amended charge of felony third degree sexual assault.
In August 2007, Erickson petitioned the court for early release, hoping to serve the last three months of his sentence in a halfway house. Judge Roderick Cameron denied the request.
His jail sentence was up on Nov. 22, but he was immediately turned over to authorities in Pepin County, where he has a conviction for an underage drinking citation from 2006. According to the Pepin County Jail, he was released on Nov. 26.
A week later, Erickson was arrested on the new charge.
He now faces possible probation revocation on the 2006 case, for which he could still be sent to prison.
Although Erickson has been arrested for second degree sexual assault of a child, he has yet to be formally charged in a criminal complaint. Prosecutors will decide what new formal charges, if any, should be brought.
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