ANTIGO – A Merrill man pleaded not guilty Monday to 31 felony counts connected to alleged sexual assaults while he worked at Apostolic Worship Center in Langlade County in the 1990s and 2000s.
Travis L. Huse, 42, faces 23 counts of first-degree sexual assault of a child, six counts of child enticement, one count of second-degree sexual assault of a child and one count of sexual assault of a student by school staff.
His father, Scott L. Huse, 64, faces one count of child enticement, four counts of first-degree sexual assault of a child and seven counts of second-degree sexual assault of a child.
On Monday, Travis Huse appeared by video and his attorney, Kevin Musolf, entered the not guilty plea for him. Langlade County Court Commissioner Brent DeBord scheduled Travis Huse’s next court appearance for Sept. 19.
According to the criminal complaints:
Eight women have come forward to accuse the men of assaulting them when they were youths at the church.
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In May, six women spoke to deputies about Travis Huse. Five of the women said Travis Huse sexually assaulted them during the 1990s and one victim said he assaulted her in 2006.
Four of the victims told the deputy Travis Huse gave them piano lessons at the Apostolic Worship Center. They reported that Travis Huse would inappropriately touch them during the lessons. They also reported Travis Huse rubbing up against them.
Another victim said Travis Huse was working as a teacher’s aide at the Apostolic Worship Center when he assaulted her during class when she was 12 and 13. She said that her cubby-like desk was in the front of the class, against a wall. She said he would place her out of the sight of the other students and inappropriately touch her.
The sixth victim said she was 17 years old when Travis Huse was working as a youth group counselor at the Worship Center, and he called her and told her to meet him at the Worship Center at 1 a.m. When she got there, Travis Huse asked her, “Your car or my car, front seat or back.”
The woman said she didn’t know what Travis Huse meant at the time, so she said, “OK, our car, backseat.” The woman said she had gotten into the car with Travis Huse and he kissed her, then put his arms around her. She said he inappropriately touched her and tried to…
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