By Jean Matheson
Correspondent
After a two-day trial, a jury took only two hours last week to find a 35-year-old man guilty of sexually abusing a 2-year-old girl at a Whitewater apartment.
Scott L. Anderson’s conviction on a charge of first-degree sexual assault of a child could bring him a prison sentence of more than 60 years in prison. After the jury’s verdict was delivered Nov. 20, Walworth County Circuit Judge John Race set a Jan. 11 date for sentencing.
The mother of the 2-year-old had complained to police that she woke up early the morning of Sept. 2, 2011, to find Anderson with his hand inside the toddler’s diaper. Both Anderson and the child had been sleeping on the floor of the apartment, she said.
Anderson admitted to officers his hand was inside the diaper and that he was touching the child’s genitals, according to a criminal complaint.
In an appearance in court Jan. 10 of this year, Anderson pleaded guilty to the sexual assault charge. Several months later, however, he withdrew the guilty plea and asked for a trial.
Anderson, who now lists an Oconomowoc address, told police after the Sept. 2 incident that he had been living with the mother of the 2-year-old to help her care for her four children. Officers said when they searched the apartment, they found the electricity had been cut off and the premises were filthy.
The jury also found Anderson guilty of two lesser criminal charges: possession of marijuana and possession of drug paraphernalia.
