DC judge says polygraph results not admissible in court for Elk Mound man accused of assault

By LeAnn R. Ralph

MENOMONIE  —  A Dunn County judge has ruled that the results of a polygraph test are not admissible in court for a case involving a 19-year-old Elk Mound man accused of child sexual assault.

Chandler Russel James appeared in Dunn County Circuit Court August 17 with his attorney, William Schembera, for a motion hearing.

James is charged with one Class B felony of the repeated sexual assault of the same child, with at least three violations of first degree sexual assault.

Judge James Peterson ruled that the results of a polygraph are not admissible in court, based on the case of State of Wisconsin vs. Dean (1981).

The offer to take a polygraph, however, is admissible in court, Judge Peterson said.

Schembera said James had offered three times during the interview with investigators to take a polygraph test.

Another motion hearing in the case is scheduled for 11:30 a.m. September 9.

James is charged with the repeated sexual assault of a girl who was eight years old at the time the assaults allegedly started in 2012.

According to the criminal complaint, the alleged assaults continued until July of 2015, when the girl would have been 11 years old.

During an interview at the Midwest Children’s Resource Center in St. Paul, the girl said she could not keep the assaults a secret anymore, even though James had told her to keep it a secret.

A Class B felony carries a penalty, upon conviction, of up to 60 years in prison.

James is free on a $1,000 cash bail. As a condition of bond, he has been ordered by the court to have no unsupervised contact with juvenile females outside of a school setting and to have no contact with the alleged victim.

A two-day trial is scheduled in October.