By Jacob Mathias

An arrest warrant is out for a Stevens Point man who failed to show in court for charges of battery and sex with a child over the age of 16.

Jeremy Wheeler, 26, failed to make his initial appearance in Portage County Circuit Court on June 6 after he was charged with misdemeanor sex with a child over the age of 16 as well as misdemeanor battery. Both charges carry a maximum sentence of up to a $10,000 fine, nine months imprisonment or both if convicted.

According to court records, on July 30, 2015, shortly after 8:00 PM, Stevens Point police met with a 17-year-old woman who walked into the police department to report a sexual assault. The officer escorted the woman to an interview room where she immediately began crying and was unable to talk.

Once the woman was able to speak, she told the officer she’d been in Wheeler’s apartment in downtown Stevens Point the night before. She reported they had been having sexual intercourse, not against her will.

While having intercourse, Wheeler reportedly attempted to engage in a sex act that the victim refused.

“You know if you do that again, I’ll have to kill you,” said the woman in a reportedly joking manner.

According to the complaint, Wheeler then became angry and pulled the woman’s hair, saying, “understand me when I say this: when I want something I get it.” He then continued to pull her hair and cause her pain in her neck. The victim also reports being slapped on the face and punched in the shoulder.

Wheeler reportedly continued to be violent with the victim including after she asked him to stop. When he finally did stop, he opened his bedroom door and gestured for the victim to leave.

The woman fled the home and called a friend to pick her up. She told police she was bleeding and in pain.

When police spoke with the defendant, he said that the incident “tripped him out” and he thought the victim was weird. He said when she yelled at him to stop he asked her to leave because it “freaked him out.” He also reports that when the victim asked him to stop, “she had an attitude.”

Judge Thomas Eagon issued the warrant for Wheeler’s arrest June 6.