A Racine man is facing the rest of his life in prison after police arrested him for sexual assault of a young family member.
Elijah Mosley was charged Tuesday in Racine County Circuit Court with one felony count each of sexual assault of a child under the age of 12 and incest. If convicted, he faces up to 100 years in prison and/or up to $100,000 in fines.
According to the criminal complaint, a four-year-old boy in March was sleeping over at his grandmother’s house when Mosley had the boy perform oral sex on him. A few days later, the boy’s mother was taking him to the same house when the boy told her he didn’t want to go if Mosley was going to be there because Mosley displayed his genitals. A forensic interview with the little boy revealed the oral sex and that Mosley told the little boy not to tell anyone.
Mosley was assigned a $50,000 cash bond and will next be in court on May 18 for his preliminary hearing.
Sexual assault victims at risk
A study from the National Institutes of Health indicates that 35 percent of male abuse victims become abusers themselves while around 11 percent of abusers have never been abused. The Wisconsin Department of Corrections provides mandatory psychological services for sex offenders while they serve their sentences. According to slides from a 2016 presentation, if Mosley is convicted or pleads guilty, he will participate in at least 18 hours of education led by licensed mental health professionals where he will learn about healthy human sexuality and cultural norms as well as undergo psychotherapy to uncover what motivated him to commit the act in the first place.
For the alleged sexual assault victim in this case and his family, neither the state nor the county offer counseling or support services. The Department of Health Services most typically gets involved is when there is a report of suspected child abuse by a parent or close family member, but otherwise, the victim’s family is left to their own devices to find appropriate mental health care for the sexual assault survivor. There is a pamphlet offered on the state’s DHS website to help direct families, including how to find services, but DHS mental health professionals are not part of the victim’s journey.
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