January 27, 2021 at 4:39 p.m.
Forest County man charged with using a computer to facilitate a child sex crime
Forest County man charged with using a computer to facilitate a child sex crime
By By River News staff-
According to a criminal complaint filed Jan. 25, Leland M. Berg of Armstrong Creek has been charged with one count of using a computer to facilitate a child sex crime, a Class C felony, and one count of attempted child enticement, a Class D felony.
According to the complaint, on Jan. 14 Berg began communicating with a person he believed to be a 14-year-old female who was visiting Rhinelander with her grandmother. The other party was actually an undercover officer involved in an Internet Crimes Against Children investigation.
According to the complaint, Berg was surveilled outside the Rhinelander hotel where "the girl" told him she was staying with her grandmother. However, he never entered the premises.
Instead, he spent approximately an hour trying to convince "the girl" to walk to various locations near or around the hotel, the complaint states.
"(Berg) refused to exit his vehicle to meet with (the girl) inside the hotel lobby or in her hotel room and was insistent on having (her) meeting him outside," the complaint states.
At one point, a sheriff's office employee posing as the underage female made a phone call to Berg.
"During their conversation, (Berg) claimed that he had never done anything like this before so he was trying to be careful," the complaint states.
The complaint also states that Berg agreed to purchase condoms after "the girl" made statements about not wanting to get pregnant.
According to online court records, Berg made his initial appearance in Oneida County Circuit Court Jan. 26 at which time a $5,000 cash bond was set. As conditions of bond, Berg is not allowed to access the internet or have contact with anyone under the age of 18 with the exception of his own children.
A preliminary hearing in this case is set for Jan. 29.
If convicted of both charges, he faces up to 65 years in prison.
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