By Shereen Siewert
A 34-year-old Rhinelander man is in the Marathon County Jail Monday awaiting an appearance on sex trafficking charges.
Paul Osterman faces charges of sex trafficking of a child, the result of a two-year investigation conducted by the Oneida County Sheriff’s Department and the Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force, officials said.
Osterman owns a high speed internet company that serves the northwoods and is a former Marine with a master’s degree in cyber security, according to his company profile. He has extensive experience within the military’s special operations community.
During the investigation, police received cyber tips from the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children regarding messages that were being intercepted on the internet from a person looking to have sexual contact with a child, officials said.
Oneida County Sheriff’s Capt. Terri Hook, in a news release issued Monday, said Osterman tried to “obtain a child for the purpose of having sex with that child.”
The Tomahawk Police Department, the Rhinelander Police Department, the Wausau Police Department and the Marathon County Sheriff’s Department also assisted with the investigation.
Four search warrants were served in Oneida County on September 21. The investigation is ongoing at this time and other charges may be pending.
Osterman is expected to appear in court Tuesday, when a judge will determine an appropriate bond.
No additional details about the case have yet been released.
