Menomonie man who didn’t show up for trial Tuesday in custody

MENOMONIE, Wis. (WEAU) - The Menomonie Police Department said Tuesday night that a man they were searching for who failed to show up for his jury trial Tuesday morning is in custody.

In an updated Facebook post Tuesday at 10:04 p.m., the Police Department said that 23-year-old Jesse D. Nelson of Menomonie was taken into custody.

Menomonie Police also thanked everyone who provided information and shared the Facebook post.

Nelson was supposed to begin his trial Tuesday for two charges each of 2nd-degree sexual assault of a child and escaping criminal arrest, as well as one charge of sexual intercourse with a child 16 years of age or older as a person 19 years of age or older. Jurors and witnesses were in Dunn County Circuit Court Tuesday at 9 a.m. when Nelson didn’t show up. The court briefly recessed to try to give law enforcement and Nelson’s lawyer more time to find him, but jurors and witnesses were released from court after he couldn’t be found, according to online court records.

MENOMONIE, Wis. (WEAU) - The Menomonie Police Department is searching for a man who failed to show up for his jury trial Tuesday morning.

Dunn County Circuit Court Judge James Peterson issued a bench warrant for 23-year-old Jesse D. Nelson of Menomonie, who was supposed to begin his trial Tuesday for two charges each of 2nd-degree sexual assault of a child and escaping criminal arrest, as well as one charge of sexual intercourse with a child 16 years of age or older as a person 19 years of age or older.

On Tuesday, the three-day trial was set to begin with jurors and witnesses all in court, but Nelson was not present. Nelson’s attorney didn’t know where he was, and law enforcement wasn’t able to find him. According to online court records, Nelson had appeared at all of the previous hearings in the case. Nelson was released from jail in February on a $5,000 signature bond with conditions that he not contact the victims in the case or have unsupervised contact with females under the age of 18.

In a Facebook post Tuesday, Menomonie Police asked the public to be on the lookout for Nelson. Anyone with information on Nelson is asked to call 715-232-1283 or submit a tip anonymously online through Dunn County Crime Stoppers.

Nelson is scheduled to appear in court for a different case in Dunn County on July 26, according to online court records.