WAUSAU, WI (WSAU) — A former Wausau babysitter found guilty of killing a child she was caring for in 2018 and abusing another child will serve 40 years in prison and 20 years of extended supervision.
Marissa Tietsort was sentenced on Tuesday by Marathon County Judge LaMont Jacobson to 37 years in prison for one count and three years for the second count. All told she will serve 60 years including both prison time and extended supervision.
Tietsort will also be banned from working in a child care setting or with vulnerable adults and will be ordered to have no contact with the victims’ families while on extended supervision. She will also be forced to maintain absolute sobriety and will pay restitution.
The 31-year-old has been given credit for three years already served. However, the sentences will not run concurrently.
Tuesday’s sentence was the result of a plea deal that saw one charge lowered from intentional homicide to first-degree reckless homicide. In exchange, Tietsort pled no contest to the charge.
The cases stem from the death of a two-month-old child by blunt force trauma. Tietsort had initially claimed the baby was injured in a fall, but doctors determined the baby died from blunt-force trauma caused by something more severe than a fall. She also admitted to knowingly sending the deceased baby home with his mother following his death.
Once word of the baby’s death came to light in 2018 it was discovered that Tietsort had abused another child who later died back in 2017.
