Man charged with beating girlfriend

A status conference was scheduled for Nov. 2 for a man suspected of beating his girlfriend causing bleeding on her brain and broken ribs.

Jacob R. Upton, 25, Lake Geneva, pleaded not guilty Oct. 22 to aggravated battery with domestic abuse assessments as a repeater and a domestic abuse repeater.

According to the criminal complaint, a doctor with Mercy Health Hospital and Trauma Center in Janesville notified police when Upton’s girlfriend was admitted to the intensive care unit July 4 with injuries that were inconsistent with her explanation.

The woman, who had been the victim of past domestic abuse incidents involving Upton, had old and new bleeding on her brain, blood between layers of the brain, acute fractures including broken ribs, a fractured vertebrae and nasal bone fractures and bruises of various ages on her arms, back, legs and face, according to the complaint. The woman told doctors she drank alcohol after being sober for several months, became intoxicated and fell on July 1 at their Elkhorn home, the complaint states.

However, doctors said the injuries were not consistent with falling, and the woman was not able to explain bruising under both her eyes but denied being a victim of assault, the complaint states.

“Trauma, surgery, neurosurgery, radiology and I are all greatly concerned about the possibility of abuse/domestic violence,” a doctor reported. “At this time patient continues to deny being a victim of assault. She continues to report that she had problems walking and fell. This history is inconsistent with physical findings and test results.”

Upton was arrested and held in the Walworth County Jail while the matter was investigated, and telephone conversations between the woman and Upton and Upton and his mother were recorded.

In a conversation with his mother, she and Upton discuss talking to a neighbor who could corroborate Upton’s story that his girlfriend fell but expressed concern about other things the neighbor might tell police. During the conversation, Upton says, “We weren’t fighting outside, so …” and his mother tells Upton his father does not want him back at his house and is angry about damage to doors and a screen, according to the complaint.

In conversations with the woman, she tells Upton that she didn’t “tell anyone anything,” and when Upton tells the woman he is in jail because of “what you did,” she says, “OK, I’m so sorry I went to the hospital to make sure I didn’t die … I should have just died,” according to the complaint.

Police reviewed Upton’s cell phone which contained a video of the woman June 23 holding the back of her head, crying, laying on a pile of bedding not moving and saying her head was bleeding from where Upton pushed her, the complaint states. On the phone was also a text message May 19 from the woman to Upton that said, “It would be a shame if everyone found out you broke by ribs with your steeltoes.”

Police also spoke to Uton’s stepfather who said, “He’s beating the s— out of her,” and said the woman is covering up for Upton as is his mother, the complaint contends.