By Shereen Siewert
A Wausau man who spent more than 10 years in prison on child enticement and other related charges was convicted this week on multiple charges of having sexually explicit photos of children in his possession.
Travis Errthum, who was on extended supervision following his July 2018 release from prison, was charged March 7, 2019 in Marathon County Circuit Court with 13 new felony counts of possessing child pornography. He was convicted Monday on all 13 counts after his so-called insanity plea was rejected by the court.
Each of the charges is a Class D felony. Wisconsin recently passed a law hat requires a three-year mandatory period of confinement in prison 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2008 case, he was convicted of four counts of possessing child pornography; his probation in the child enticement case was revoked and he was ordered to spend 10 years and 8 months in prison.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, according to the criminal complaint.
Errthum initially denied searching for the files but later admitted he used his iPhone on public wifi connections and allegedly told police he has an addiction to young girls age 10 to 15, the police report states.
Errthum will be sentenced Sept. 6.
