September 24, 2020 at 11:48 a.m.
$50,000 cash bail set for Rhinelander man charged with trafficking of a child
$50,000 cash bail set for Rhinelander man charged with trafficking of a child
Paul S. Osterman was arrested Monday, according to a press release issued by Oneida County sheriff's captain Terri Hook.
"The arrest is a result of a two-year investigation conducted by the Oneida County Sheriff's Office and the Internet Crimes against Children Task Force," Hook explained in the press release.
The investigation began after law enforcement agencies received tips from the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children regarding messages that were being intercepted on the internet from a person looking to have sexual contact with a child, Hook explained.
"During the investigation, Osterman attempted to obtain a child for the purpose of having sex with that child," the release said.
The Tomahawk Police Department, the Rhinelander Police Department, the Wausau Police Department and the Marathon County Sheriff's Office assisted with the investigation, which is ongoing, Hook noted.
According to states statutes, "whoever knowingly recruits, entices, provides, obtains, harbors, transports, patronizes, or solicits or knowingly attempts to recruit, entice, provide, obtain, harbor, transport, patronize, or solicit any child for the purpose of commercial sex acts" is guilty of trafficking of a child.
The 21-page criminal complaint, filed Tuesday in Marathon County Circuit Court, indicates the first cyber tip law enforcement received was associated with a conversation between users of a particular social media application in January of 2018 where one of the users stated they would pay cash to have sexual contact with "as young a girl" as the other user could find.
Police could not identify the user but did learn that the IP address used during the messaging was associated with a public Wi-Fi location in Rhinelander, the complaint states.
A similar messaging conversation took place in February 2018 where a user of the same app used in the January conversation messaged another user "Older man here. I'll pay you if you can find me a much younger girl."
Again, the user could not be identified. However, the IP address was associated with a Rhinelander business that offers public Wi-Fi, the complaint states.
A third tip, associated with a messaging conversation in May 2018, led police to an IP address issued through the internet service provider Northwoods Communications Technologies LLC of Rhinelander. The contact person for the company was co-owner Paul Osterman, the complaint states.
A few months later, after another tip associated with a conversation between users of the same app was also linked to Northwoods Communications Technology, later known as Northwoods Connect, law enforcement interviewed Osterman.
"Osterman advised the IP address used on the dates and times in question could have been used by any of Northwoods Connects approximate 400 customers but there was no way to track one specific customer to the IP address," the complaint states. "Osterman did provide of list of all Northwoods Connect customers. No specific user could be identified."
In July 2019, police received another tip about a messaging conversation where an individual was offering to pay a lot of money to have sex with a young girl. The IP address used during that messaging session was later determined to be a public Wi-Fi location at a hotel in Illinois. Guest records from the hotel, obtained through a subpoena, showed Osterman had rented a room there on July 5, 2019, the complaint states.
According to the complaint, there were a number of other instances in 2019 where law enforcement received tips that an adult man was offering money in exchange for a meeting with a very young female for purposes of engaging in specific acts. In all of the cases, the person seeking the juvenile females was using an IP address associated with a public Wi-Fi location in Rhinelander.
In February 2020, a Rhinelander police officer responded to a call reporting "a suspicious male parked in a vehicle for several hours" outside a Rhinelander business, according to the complaint.
Rhinelander officer Benjamin Curtes "made contact with a male sitting in a black 2019 Ram 1500 Classic Pickup Truck..." the complaint continues. The occupant of the truck, identified as Osterman, had two electronic tablet devices and a cellular phone operating at the same time," the complaint states. "Osterman said Osterman was the owner of Northwoods Connect and was testing the Internet speed of Northwoods Connect competitors."
The location where Osterman was parked would allow access to the same public Wi-Fi connection used in some of the previous messaging conversations involving the user seeking young girls, the complaint notes.
The complaint also describes an operation in June 2020 where an officer posing as a single mother of a 9-year-old daughter attempted to set up a meeting with the user believed to be Osterman at a park in Wausau. While police observed Osterman's vehicle circling the area where the meeting was to take place, and there was extended chat activity between the user believed to be Osterman and the officer posing as the mother, no one approached the officer, the complaint states.
The complaint also includes a summary of chat activity between a person believed to be Osterman and an officer using a different single mother persona discussing an in-person meeting. In that instance, Osterman was observed in the area of the proposed meeting place, the complaint states.
If he posts bond, Osterman is prohibited from having any contact with children under the age of 18. He must turn in his passport and may not leave Wisconsin.
He is also prohibited from using any devices that can access the internet.
According to court records, Osterman is due back in court Sept. 28 for an indigency hearing. His preliminary hearing is set for Sept. 30.
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