Police believe a Beloit man had sexual contact with an underage girl from New Lisbon in Beloit.
Officer Amber Davies testified at the preliminary hearing for 27-year-old Vernon Benson Jr. on Friday, reporting sexual intercourse between Benson and the 16-year-old victim who he met on Facebook and arranged to pick up in the Wisconsin Dells area in May.
The Juneau County Sheriff’s Office issued an endangered missing person alert at the time, believing she might have been in the Beloit area.
Officer Davies told the court that Benson brought the victim back to his Beloit apartment and brandished a firearm before initiating the sexual contact.
He is charged in Rock County Court with misdemeanor sexual intercourse with a child 16 or older along with felony exposing intimate parts to a child and possession of a firearm by a convicted felon. He is not currently charged with sexual assault.
Police have Facebook messages between Benson and the victim which show the female identifying herself as 16 years old. Benson claimed she told him over the phone that she was 19, and he said the sexual intercourse was consensual.
