Fond du Lac man convicted of strangling woman faces charges in second abuse case

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FOND DU LAC, Wis. (CBS 58) -- A Fond du Lac County man has been charged with multiple felonies in a violent domestic abuse case.

Hayden Gieschen of North Fond du Lac is facing a felony strangulation and suffocation charge and a felony false imprisonment charge in addition to two disorderly conduct misdemeanors.

Police say during a December incident with the mother of his child, Gieschen “grabbed [her] around the neck and picked her up and threw her.”

Later, he “placed his arms around her neck in a chokehold.”

In 2018, Gieschen was convicted on the same strangulation charge after an incident with another woman he has a child with, Autumn Flasch.

Describing what happened, Flasch said, “I could feel like I was starting to black out. They said over 75 percent of my body was bruised.”

Gieschen served six months in jail.

Flasch says the sentence was disappointing, and she was heartbroken when she learned her ex had found another victim.

“It literally felt like somebody stepped on my chest,” she said. “I could not breathe. I felt horrible for this girl that now she has to go through exactly the same pain I did.”

Flash says police had been involved in her relationship with Gieschen five or six times before the 2017 choking incident.

She says getting to the point of pressing charges was a difficult road.

“He was very good at talking me out of it,” Flasch said. “He’d say you’re going to break up our family.”

When Gieschen was charged, Flasch says she was harassed.

"People were telling me I should kill myself,” she said. “People were telling me my daughter would be better if I was dead."

Flasch is hopeful the sentence will be more severe for these new charges than it was after he strangled her.

"Hayden's going to go away and he's not going to be able to hurt anybody for a long time," she said.

Flasch says she’s developed a relationship with the second woman Gieschen’s accused of strangling, where they can be there for each other.

Gieschen could face up to 22 years in prison for the felonies he’s charged with.

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