Registered Sex Offender Indicted for Child Sex Offenses; Faces Mandatory Life Sentence

United States Attorney Matthew D. Krueger of the Eastern District of Wisconsin, announced that on August 28, 2018, a federal grand jury returned an indictment against Brian D. Wickersham (age: 58) of Merrill, Wisconsin.

Wickersham faces charges alleging he attempted to coerce or entice a minor child to engage in illicit sexual activity contrary to Title 18, United States Code, Section 2422(b). He is further charged with transporting the minor across state lines with the intent to engage in criminal sexual activity contrary to Title 18, United States Code, Section 2423(a). Wickersham was previously convicted of first-degree sexual assault of a child in Milwaukee County Circuit Court. Due to this conviction he is a lifetime sex offender registrant under the laws of Wisconsin. As such, he faces a third charge for the commission of a felony sex offense by an individual required to register as a sexual offender contrary to Title 18, United States Code, Section 2260A. If convicted of the charges, Wickersham faces a mandatory life sentence.

This case was investigated by the Brown County Internet Crimes Against Children (ICAC) Task Force and the Green Bay office of the F.B.I. It will be prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Daniel R. Humble.

This case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse launched in May 2006, by the U.S. Department of Justice.  Led by U.S. Attorneys’ Offices and the Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section (CEOS), Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state and local resources to better locate, apprehend and prosecute individuals who exploit children via the Internet, as well as to identify and rescue victims.  For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit www.projectsafechildhood.gov.

An indictment is only a charge and is not evidence of guilt.  The defendant is presumed innocent and is entitled to a fair trial at which the government must prove him guilty beyond a reasonable doubt.