By Shereen Siewert | Wausau Pilot & Review
A Wausau sex offender previously convicted of child enticement was handed a 20-plus year sentence on his most recent charges, which were filed while he was on extended supervision.
As previously reported, Travis Errthum was convicted in December on 13 counts of possessing child pornography, after his so-called insanity plea was rejected by the court. A judge requested a presentencing investigation be completed before determining the appropriate punishment for Errthum, who has multiple prior convictions in Marathon and Crawford Counties.
Each of the charges is a Class D felony. Wisconsin law now requires a three-year mandatory prison term for possessing child pornography, with additional penalties for suspects with prior convictions.
This is also a violation of federal criminal law, where penalties are more severe.
Court records show Errthum was convicted in 2001 of child enticement. Later, in a 2008 case, he was convicted of four counts of possessing child pornography; his probation in the child enticement case was revoked and he was ordered to spend 10 years and 8 months in prison.
In the most recent case police say they discovered a portable hard drive, laptop, USB storage device and iPhone in Errthum’s bedroom and a second iPhone in his vehicle during a search in October 2018 authorized by Errthum’s probation agent. Forensic searches of the hardware resulting from two separate warrants uncovered sexually explicit photos and videos of prepubescent girls.
Errthum, 52, initially denied searching for the files but later admitted he used his iPhone on public wifi connections and told police he has an addiction to young girls age 10 to 15, the police report states. Charges were filed in 2019, and Errthum remained in custody awaiting trial.
During a plea hearing in 2021, defense attorney John Wallace informed the judge that Errthum wanted to change his plea from not guilty to NGI, which stands for “not guilty by reason of mental disease or defect.” This is one of four plea options available to criminal defendants in the state. Circuit Judge Greg Huber accepted the plea and ordered the examination, but ultimately Errthum was found competent to stand trial and was convicted.
Because he was on extended supervision at the time he committed new crimes, his probation was revoked and he was returned to prison to serve additional time on the child enticement charge.
On the most recent charges, Circuit Judge Rick Cveykus ordered a 20 1/2-year sentence for Errthum, who is required to serve the first 10 1/2 years of initial confinement before he can be released on supervision. But that sentence won’t begin until he finishes serving his time for the prior charge.
Wisconsin Dept. of Corrections records show Errthum will remain behind bars until 2036. He is also subject to lifetime registration on the sex offender registry.
