By Shereen Siewert
WAUSAU — Two sex offenders, including one who is facing new felony charges in a separate case filed in 2019, will be released from prison in the coming days and will be living in Wausau, according to the Wausau Police Department.
Travis Errthum, 48, and Joseph Sekola, 32, will both be monitored by sex offender agent specialists and will be subject to GPS monitoring. Both men will be living in transitional housing near the Marathon County Courthouse and will be on highly restricted schedules with time out in the community for work and treatment, police said.
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2008 case, he was convicted of four counts of possessing child pornography; his probation in the child enticement case was revoked and he was ordered to spend 10 years and 8 months in prison. But Errthum, who was on extended supervision following his July 2018 release, is already facing 13 new felony counts of possessing child pornography. The charges were filed March 7, 2019 in Marathon County Circuit Court.
According to court filings, police 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 which was 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, according to the criminal complaint. The new charges each carry a minimum penalty of three years in prison.
Errthum will be released April 27, but a plea hearing in the latest case is set for May 20.
Sekola was convicted of second-degree sexual assault of a child in 2008 and will remain on supervision until 2028. He is set for a May 4 release.
Their ongoing addresses and statuses will be updated and available online by accessing the Wisconsin Sex Offender Registry at www.widocoffenders.org.
