Janesville man charged with sex assaults of two girls
Jul. 7—JANESVILLE — A Janesville man has been charged with repeated sexual assault of a child in two separate cases after a police investigation over the past two months.
Cody W. Briggs, 22, of 3765 Ridge Drive, Janesville, was charged Friday in both cases involving girls.
In the first case, a 14-year-old told police Briggs made her perform sex acts when she was about 4 years old.
In the second case, an older teenager told police she had been Briggs' girlfriend starting about five years ago.
The older teen told police Briggs raped her and coerced her into sexual acts she did not want over the course of four years.
In both cases, the girls disclosed incidents years after they occurred when they were minors.
Reporting of childhood sex assaults often comes after the victim matures and comes to an understanding of what happened, said Janesville police Lt. Chad Pearson.
Wisconsin has no statute of limitations in such cases, according to the Wisconsin Coalition Against Sexual Assault.
The second case came to light as a Janesville police detective was investigating the first one, but they are separate instances, Pearson said.
The then-4-year-old knew Briggs, and the assaults took place at the house of one of her family members, according to the criminal complaint.
The girl told police that Briggs showed her pornography on his phone and then asked her to perform the acts depicted, and he would reward her with coins or Pokemon cards, according to the complaint.
During her interview with the detective, the girl said she felt fear during these incidents. When asked how she felt now, she said, "awful," according to the complaint.
Briggs admitted to the detective that he touched the girl's breast area over her clothing, and when confronted with the girl's disclosures, he said he could not remember it happening, according to the complaint.
The young woman in the second case told police she began dating Briggs when she was 14 and he was 17, and it lasted several years. She said Briggs was her first boyfriend, and she didn't realize until later that he had raped her, according to the complaint.
The woman said it was common for Briggs to demand sex four or five times in a day and that Briggs would continue even though she told him "no" repeatedly. She said she worried that if she didn't comply that he would be angry, according to the complaint.
"Briggs would tell her that she had to do these things because that is what girlfriends are supposed to do, and he would threaten to find a different girlfriend if she didn't," and she believed him, according to police.
Briggs made his initial court appearance Friday, July 2, on both cases. He was released on a signature bond with conditions that he have no contact with the alleged victims and no intentional contact with any minor.
His next court appearance is Wednesday.
