WAUSAU, Wis. (WSAU) — Three men are facing various charges in Marathon County in connection with an online child-sex sting.
Wausau police and Marathon County deputies made posts on Craigslist on Friday posing as a 14-year-old girl seeking to meet with people, and the three men arrested responded to the undercover officers in an attempt to meet the girl.
According to reports, 18-year-old Nicholas Gosh of Stevens Point came to a Wausau apartment to meet the girl and was arrested there. He faces a charge of using a computer to facilitate a sex crime. He’s been released on a signature bond.
Police say 19-year-old Bo Waalkens of Kaukauna offered to smoke marijuana with the fake girl during their chat sessions, and said he knew he couldn’t touch her because she was underage. He faces a felony charge of of contributing to the delinquency of a minor, and misdemeanor charges of possession of marijuana and drug paraphernalia. Waalkens was released on a signature bond.
32-year-old Justin Hetzel of Pittsville faces more serious charges in the case. Police say he agreed to meet the fake girl at a Rib Mountain fast-food restaurant. Police waited for him, and spotted a different vehicle registered in Hetzel’s name at the establishment. When he was approached, he agreed to let police look at his phone. He told police he was waiting for a friend, then tried to break the phone and get away. Hetzel now faces felony charges of child enticement and using a computer to facilitate a sex crime, and a misdemeanor charge of resisting arrest. He’s being held on a $3,000 cash bond.
Sheriff Scott Parks says they’re calling the sting Operation KG Initiative in honor of sheriff’s lieutenant Kevin Gray who died earlier this year from complications from a motorcycle crash. Parks says Gray was instrumental in helping to set up these operations in the past, and laid the groundwork for better training and better forensics in the area.
