CF man convicted of repeated child sexual assault
CHIPPEWA FALLS — A Chippewa Falls man accused of repeatedly sexually assaulting two children has now been convicted.
Thomas E. Buetow, 35, 426 Woodward Ave., entered a no contest plea Wednesday in Chippewa County Court to one count of repeated sexual assault of a child. As part of a plea agreement, a mandatory minimum prison sentence was waived. The trial, which was set to begin Aug. 6, has been canceled.
Judge James Isaacson ordered a pre-sentence investigation and set a sentencing date for Nov. 7. Defense attorney Matthew Krische indicated he will obtain an alternate PSI for his client. The pre-sentence investigation is a recommendation by the Department of Corrections on the type of discipline, including the length of incarceration, on a conviction.
Buetow was originally held in the Chippewa County Jail on a $100,000 cash bond. On Jan. 30, Judge James Isaacson reduced the cash bond to $50,000, but Thomas Buetow has not yet posted bond and remains incarcerated in the Chippewa County Jail. He entered a not guilty plea in October.
According to the criminal complaint, a man told police that his children, a boy (now age 9) and a girl (now age 12) told him last spring that Thomas Buetow had sexually assaulted them while they slept at the Buetows’ home. The assaults occurred between January 2022 and September 2023.
Specialists interviewed both children. The girl said the assaults began when she was nine or 10 years old, and “disclosed that that the sexual abuse occurred almost every night of the week that she was with Mr. Buetow,” the complaint reads.
She was able to describe the type of assault was with Thomas Buetow’s fingers.
Police interviewed Thomas Buetow days later, and he denied sexually assaulting the children. However, “Mr. Buetow did state that in the last year that he did a lot of drinking, which led him to black out and not remember what he did the next morning.”
Samantha L. Buetow, 31, was originally charged for not reporting a child sexual assault. In April, she entered a no contest plea to a misdemeanor-level charge of child neglect.
Chippewa County Judge Benjamin Lane ordered Samantha Buetow to serve a minimum of 90 days in jail with Huber work release privileges; another six months in jail was imposed and stayed. The failure to act felony charge was read-in and dismissed. Buetow also was placed on probation for two years. So, if she violates terms of her probation, she could wind up serving the rest of the sentence. Samantha Buetow also must complete a parenting class.
Online court records show Thomas Buetow was convicted of disorderly conduct and obstructing an officer in Eau Claire County Court in 2019.