Authorities on Wednesday arrested a 21-year-old Weston man accused of coming to Wescott for a sexual rendezvous with what he believed would be a 15-year-old girl.
The Shawano County Sheriff’s Department said it would be referring a charge of using a computer to facilitate a child sex crime to the district attorney’s office.
“The Sheriff’s Department became aware of an individual who was soliciting whom he believed to be an underage female for sexual purposes,” Detective Sgt. Gordon Kowaleski said. “A meeting was arranged between the two and, when the individual showed up, he was arrested.”
The suspect also had an outstanding felony warrant, Kowaleski said.
Kowaleski said the man had been sending emails and text messages of a graphic sexual nature to the girl.
Authorities made a similar arrest last month, also in Wescott. In that case, Ryan L. Zempel, 19, of Coleman, had allegedly arranged to meet a 15-year-old boy for sexual purposes when he was instead arrested by sheriff’s deputies.
Zempel is scheduled for a preliminary hearing Jan. 23 on a charge of using a computer to facilitate a child sex crime. He could face a maximum 40 years in prison and $100,000 fine if convicted.