MASHFIELD — A candidate for the Marshfield School Board was arrested Jan. 28 and is being held in the Wood County Jail pending a $50,000 cash bail set on Jan. 29, according to court records.
Mathew Lloyd Samson, 41, of Marshfield, made his first court appearance on Feb. 3 on four felony counts of child abuse, as well as one count of first-degree reckless endangerment, false imprisonment, strangulation and suffocation, and one misdemeanor count of battery, all domestic violence incidents related to two separate cases. If convicted on all counts, Samson faces up to 49 years and three months in prison.
Samson will appear on the spring primary ballot on Feb. 17 as a candidate for Marshfield School Board.
Criminal complaint details allegations against Samson
According to a criminal complaint filed in the case, three children told police on Jan. 26 that Samson slapped a 7-year-old on the side of the head after he pressed the wrong microwave time. The child told police it hurt and the child cried, but the child did not believe there were traces, according to the criminal complaint.
An 8-year-old child also told police that in the fall of 2025, Samson became angry with the child and began kicking the child in the stomach as punishment until he fell to the ground, the criminal complaint said. The child showed the officer that he was sitting in a “fetal position,” and Samson continued to kick him, the complaint states. The child told officers it did hurt, that the child was crying and that Samson told the child to “stop crying,” the complaint states.
A 10-year-old child also reported that in the fall of 2025, Samson pushed an 8-year-old child against a closed door with his hands, grabbing the top of the child’s head while pushing him from the ground to the door. The 10-year-old and 8-year-old described it as the children’s faces being “bumped” into the door, the complaint states. The 10-year-old yelled at Samson to stop, and the child said Samson responded, “Men need physical violence,” the complaint states.
The 8-year-old also told police that Samson would put the child in time-out for so long that the child felt dizzy and “vomited,” and that Samson would not allow the child to go to the bathroom when he needed to.
A woman also told police that Samson threatened to shoot himself with a handgun at a home in Marshfield on the night of Jan. 27, the complaint said. The woman said Samson often “played” with the gun and made suicidal remarks in hopes of getting a reaction from her. She said the night of Jan. 27 was the first time Samson used a gun on her, according to the complaint. She said she put her hands over her eyes and asked Samson not to, and Samson turned the gun toward her and pointed it at her head, according to the complaint. Samson continued to aim the gun back and forth between their heads about two or three times until the incident was over.
The woman also told police that in September 2025, Samson became upset with her and decided she needed to be punished. Samson hit the woman with a belt at least 10 times.
She said in April 2025, Samson became upset with the woman, pushed her onto the bed and pushed her face down on a pillow. The woman said she couldn’t breathe and felt like Samson was going to kill her, according to the complaint.
The woman also told police of another incident in which Samson yelled at her for about an hour before he pulled a gun and said: “It’s either you or me.” Samson told the woman she needed to kill herself or shoot him, then removed the loaded gun from its safe and placed it on the bedside table, the complaint states.
Samson is scheduled for a preliminary hearing and arraignment in both cases on February 12.
Erik Pfantz covers local government and education in central Wisconsin for USA TODAY Network Wisconsin, emphasizing his background as a rural Wisconsinite. Contact him: epfantz@usatodayco.com.
This article originally appeared in the Marshfield News-Herald: Marshfield school board candidate charged with child abuse and endangerment