A 43-year-old Merrill man is in the Lincoln County Jail as deputies continue to investigate a complaint from the Internet Crimes against Children Task Force.
Deputies took the man into custody on Monday at his Town of Corning home and will forward charges to the Lincoln County District Attorney charging the man with:
•Repeated sexual assault of the same child (Felony)
•Exposing genitals to a child (Felony)
•Child enticement (Felony)
•Use of a computer to facilitate a sex crime (Felony)
•Two counts of possession of child pornography (Felony)
According to the Lincoln County Sheriff’s Office, the investigation revealed that the man developed a relationship with the child using social media and that resulted in crimes taking place in both Lincoln and Marathon counties. The Marathon County Sheriff’s Office did assist in serving a search warrant at property in the Town of Hamburg and is awaiting reports from Lincoln County before forwarding similar charges to their district attorney.
The man is being held for an initial court appearance on Wednesday at 1:30 p.m. in Lincoln County Court where a bond will be set.
The man’s name is not being released until he is formally charged.