A Chippewa Falls man accused of sexually assaulting a 10-year-old girl in 2017 has reached an apparent plea agreement, according to statements made in Chippewa County court this week. Benjamin B. Bejin, 46, appeared in court on Tuesday, where his attorney indicated a deal had been struck to resolve the case without a trial.
According to the Leader-Telegram, defense attorney Michael Cohen told Judge Steve Gibbs that he anticipated an agreement had been reached to resolve the matter. No trial dates had been set in the case, and Bejin remains free on a signature bond he was granted after his arrest. Judge Gibbs, who has served on the Chippewa County Circuit Court since taking office in January 2017, left the bond in place and scheduled a plea hearing for December 8.
Court documents describe a case built on a report made years after the alleged incident. A criminal complaint states that the girl disclosed she was sexually assaulted by Bejin at a Chippewa Falls residence on June 11, 2017, and that she reported it to her mother by email the following day. The complaint notes the assault was not reported to law enforcement at the time.
A Report That Surfaced Nearly Eight Years Later
The case remained dormant until a Chippewa Falls police investigator interviewed the girl about the reported assault on March 21, 2025. Chippewa County public law enforcement records reviewed by Recently Booked show Bejin was booked into county custody just four days later, on March 25, 2025, nearly eight years after the alleged assault.
Bejin was formally charged in May 2025 with first-degree sexual assault of a child under the age of 13 in Chippewa County court. He entered a not guilty plea in September 2025. The complaint's timeline reflects a pattern legal and advocacy organizations describe as common: the Pride Law Firm notes that delayed disclosure is the norm rather than the exception among child sexual abuse survivors, who often wait years or decades to report due to fear, guilt, or psychological trauma.
Academic research on sexual assault reporting trends has found that victim age is the single best predictor of reporting delays, with roughly 30% of reported sexual assaults involving a lag of 30 days or more between the incident and a police report, according to a study published on arXiv. That research point offers broader context for why years passed before Chippewa Falls police interviewed the girl in the case against Bejin, who has no prior criminal record in Wisconsin.
Why Charges Could Still Be Filed Years Later
Wisconsin law allows for exactly this kind of delayed prosecution. Under Wisconsin Statute § 939.74, the criminal statute of limitations for first-degree sexual assault of a child permits prosecutors to initiate charges anytime until the victim turns 45, according to RAINN. That extended window is why prosecutors were legally able to file charges in 2025 for an incident alleged to have happened eight years earlier.
The charge itself carries significant weight. First-degree sexual assault of a child under 13 is a Class B felony in Wisconsin, which carries a maximum penalty of up to 60 years in prison under state sentencing law, per Chirafisi Anderson, S.C. Class B felonies in Wisconsin do not carry mandatory minimum prison sentences unless injury or intercourse provisions apply, the firm notes, though the maximum exposure underscores the stakes Bejin faced before the apparent plea agreement.
As part of his release, Bejin was ordered to comply with pretrial monitoring conditions and cannot have unsupervised contact with juvenile females or the victim. Under Wisconsin criminal procedure, a signature bond allows an accused felony defendant to remain out of custody without posting cash bail, provided they sign an agreement to attend all required court proceedings and follow special conditions, Chirafisi Anderson, S.C. explains. Monetary penalties would only apply if Bejin violated those release terms or failed to appear in court.
State Lawmakers Have Moved to Widen These Windows Further
The case unfolds against a backdrop of recent Wisconsin legislative action extending accountability for historical sexual offenses. In March 2026, the state enacted 2025 Wisconsin Act 90, which doubled the statute of limitations for second-degree sexual assault from 10 to 20 years and expanded victim immunity protections, according to the Van Severen Law Office. The same legislative session also produced Act 88, which created a new Class D felony for grooming a child for sexual activity and allows prosecution until the victim turns 45, per Chirafisi Anderson, S.C. Class D felonies in Wisconsin carry up to 25 years of imprisonment, the firm notes.
Chippewa County's court system operates within a broader coordination structure known as the Criminal Justice Collaborating Council, chaired by local circuit court leadership to align law enforcement, prosecution, and social services under evidence-based practices, according to the State of Wisconsin Criminal Justice Coordinating Council. The Bejin case is not the only high-profile child sexual assault matter moving through Chippewa County courts this year; Hoodline previously reported that the Lily Peters case skipped trial as well, with its own resolution hearing set for later this month.
Bejin's December 8 plea hearing is expected to formalize the terms of the deal his attorney referenced in court this week. Until then, he remains free under the same signature bond and monitoring conditions Judge Gibbs has kept in place since his release.
