(WTAQ-WLUK) — A former Division I college athlete was indicted Tuesday on federal charges of child enticement and pornography production.
William Waterstradt, 22, of Allouez, competed for Marquette University’s track and field team as recently as the 2024-25 school year. He faces one count of production of child pornography and two counts of child enticement. Those new federal charges are in addition to a dozen state charges filed in Langlade County in January.
According to authorities, the investigation into Waterstradt began after a 12-year-old student saw sexually explicit images on a friend’s phone during recess and reported the incident to school officials.
A criminal complaint states Waterstradt created a fake Snapchat account and used it to “facilitate the exploitation of numerous underage girls.”
Detectives recovered communications between Waterstradt and dozens of girls, some as young as 12 years old, in which he falsely claimed to be 16 or 17 years old.
Many of the victims told law enforcement they had exchanged sexually explicit images with Waterstradt. Three said they met Waterstradt in person “and engaged in sexual intercourse and/or sexual contact, which he sometimes recorded on his phone.” It was later determined Waterstradt shared some of those videos with individuals online.
The production of child pornography charge carries a mandatory minimum sentence of 15 years and a maximum sentence of 30 years. The child enticement counts each carry a mandatory minimum of 10 years and a maximum of life in prison.
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