A former pastor was sentenced to life in prison for repeated sexual assault of a child on May 6, according to a press release from the Wisconsin Department of Justice.
Jeffrey Anthony Charles, 65, was charged in 2022 with repeated sexual assault of the same child. The assaults happened between 2005 and 2010 while he was a pastor for the nondenominational church Neighbors to Nations in Princeton, Minnesota.
According to the press release, the assaults occurred at Charles’ cabin in the Town of Summit, starting when the child was 3 years old and lasting until the child was 8.
Charles also had a conviction of sexual abuse in Iowa in 1997, eight years before he began the sexual assault of the child in the Town of Summit.
In the press release, Douglas County District Attorney Mark Fruehauf commended the victim for her bravery when testifying about these crimes to a jury and expressed gratitude to law enforcement and the Department of Justice.
“This sentence sends an unmistakable message about the heinousness of this kind of criminal conduct,” Attorney General Josh Kaul said.
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Eva Wen is an investigative data reporter. Reach her at qwen@usatodayco.com.
This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Former pastor gets life sentence for repeated sexual assault of child
Reporting by Eva Wen, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel / Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
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