July 25, 2022 at 4:09 p.m.
Osterman sentencing delayed to September
Osterman sentencing delayed to September
By River News Staff-
According to online federal court records, Paul S. Osterman entered a guilty plea April 8 to one count of trafficking a child for commercial sex. Two other related federal charges are expected to be dismissed at the time of sentencing, according to the plea agreement filed in the case. Child trafficking charges filed in Lincoln and Marathon counties are also expected to be dismissed, pursuant to the agreement.
Sentencing was scheduled for July 20, however court records now show the hearing as scheduled for Sept. 21.
According to court records, Osterman's attorney Christopher T. Van Wagner requested an extension of the deadline for objections to the presentence report and to postpone the sentencing itself.
"The reasons additional time is needed are two," Van Wagner wrote in a motion filed July 13. "First, defense counsel has not been able to meet and discuss sufficiently with his client all defense PSI objections, due to trial schedules in other matters and several visits to the Marathon County Jail which were either cancelled or cut far too short by the jail staff for their own reasons. Second, counsel is and has been for two and one half weeks been involved in the preparation and defense of a felony child sexual assault case in Dane County Circuit Court, which continues until the end of this week."
Osterman is facing a mandatory minimum of 15 years in prison, but could be incarcerated for the rest of his life.
The first charge against Osterman, a single felony count of trafficking a child, was filed in Marathon County in September 2020.
According to the complaint, an investigation began after law enforcement received tips from the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children regarding messages that were being intercepted on the internet from a person willing to pay to have sexual contact with a very young female.
Under state 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.
That complaint also included summaries of conversations between users of a social media application where one of the users, later identified as Osterman, stated they would pay cash to have sexual contact with "as young a girl" as could be arranged.
In December 2020, an identical charge was filed in Lincoln County Circuit Court. That charge was based on allegations Osterman tried to make arrangements with a person he met online for a 9-year-old girl to be transported to a hotel in Tomahawk for the purpose of sexual activity.
No transport took place, according to the complaint.
Finally, in May 2021, a federal indictment was handed down alleging that from July 3-5, 2019, Osterman had solicited a child for sex in exchange for money, in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Sections 1591(a)(1), (b)(1), and (c).
According to the indictment, he met the child using the MeetMe application and traveled from Rhinelander to Illinois for a commercial sex transaction.
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