ASHWAUBENON, WI (WTAQ) – An Ashwaubenon man was formally charged Thursday after being accused of holding the mother of his child against her will for six days while sexually and physically assaulting her.
25-year-old Michael Ferguson was charged with seven counts – 3 counts of second-degree sexual assault, two counts of battery, one count of recklessly endangering safety, and one count of false imprisonment – for the incidents at an apartment complex in the 2100 block of Carstensen Lane.
Ashwaubenon Public Safety says the 26-year-old woman came to them Tuesday, May 31 describing what happened at Ferguson’s apartment.
According to the criminal complaint, the victim states that Ferguson contacted her through a friend on Wednesday, May 25. His probation agent prohibited him from having contact with her. The friend told the victim that Ferguson wanted to meet her at the bus station and then go to his house. The victim agreed and they met at the station on University Avenue and went back to his apartment.
Ferguson later asked to see the victim’s phone, looked through messages and noticed messages from the victim’s guy friends. Ferguson became angry and punched her in the face. She punched him back and Ferguson assaulted her more. After the incident, Ferguson took her phone into the kitchen and broke it. She said that she was stabbed in the arm with a hunting knife.
The victim says Ferguson continued to physically and sexually assaulted her many times, over the six days. At one point she asked him, “Why do you want to hurt me?” and Ferguson replied, “Because I love you.”
On Monday, May 30, Ferguson left to go to the store with his mom and told the victim not to leave the home. He took her purse and keys with him. She later left and walked to a friend’s house. The next day she went to the hospital. Shortly after, officials obtained the victim’s hospital records.
Based on the information the victim gave police, a search warrant was executed on Ferguson’s apartment.
The investigator noticed numerous spots of what appeared to be blood. Ferguson denied having any knives, besides a butter knife, and denied stabbing the victim. He said the blood in the apartment must be from when the victim stubbed her toe back in March.
After looking in the apartment complex dumpster, authorities found two clear bags of garbage containing some bloody evidence.
Ferguson faces life in prison if convicted on all counts. He’s currently in the Brown County Jail on $25,000 bond.
