Executive Summary
- Chelsie Lehmann pleaded no contest to one count of child neglect in Portage County.
- The case originated from a September AMBER Alert involving a six-year-old and a known sex offender.
- Two additional charges were dismissed but will be considered during the April 14 sentencing.
STEVENS POINT, Wis. – A 32-year-old woman from Almond, Wisconsin, has been convicted of child neglect after entering a plea agreement related to a disappearance that triggered an AMBER Alert in Portage County last September. According to court records, Chelsie Lehmann pleaded no contest to one count of neglecting a child and was subsequently found guilty by the court.
The charges stemmed from a law enforcement investigation initiated after Lehmann’s six-year-old daughter walked away from her home on September 11. Authorities reported that the child remained missing for two days, prompting police to issue an AMBER Alert based on the belief that the minor was potentially in the company of Jordan Coyle, a known sex offender.
Law enforcement officials ultimately located Coyle and the child hiding in a wooded area nearby in the late afternoon on September 13. Following the discovery, prosecutors charged Coyle with child sexual assault and interfering with child custody. Investigators allege that Lehmann aided or harbored Coyle during the search and permitted him to violate the terms of his supervision by maintaining contact with her daughter.
Under the terms of the plea agreement, two additional charges against Lehmann were dismissed. However, court officials noted that these dismissed charges will still be considered by the judge during the sentencing phase. A sentencing hearing for Lehmann has been scheduled for April 14.
It is important to note that all individuals, including co-defendant Jordan Coyle, are presumed innocent until proven guilty in a court of law.
Procedural Next Steps
The dismissal of charges with a stipulation that they be "considered at sentencing" is a common prosecutorial tool in Wisconsin and other jurisdictions. This legal mechanism, often referred to as a "read-in," allows the court to evaluate the defendant’s full range of alleged conduct and character when determining an appropriate penalty for the conviction of record, without requiring a trial on every individual count. As the case moves toward the April 14 hearing, the judicial focus will shift to the pre-sentencing investigation, which assesses the defendant’s history and the severity of the neglect relative to state guidelines.
