A New Castle man has been sentenced after pleading guilty to attempted child solicitation and dissemination of matter harmful to minors.
Joshua Waller, 24, pleaded guilty on Oct. 15. He was sentenced the same day to three years in prison on the Level 5 felony, the attempted child solicitation, and two-and-a-half years in prison for the other charge, a Level 6 felony. Two Class A misdemeanor charges of inappropriate communication with a child were dismissed.
The sentences will be served concurrent to each other and consecutive to the sentence in a child molestation case that Waller pleaded guilty to in New Castle in 2017. Waller was sentenced to 10 years in prison in that case with two years of that sentence suspended. He was also placed on probation and was required to register as a sex offender for 10 years upon his release from prison, according to online court records.
An undercover Brown County sheriff’s deputy posing as a 13-year-old girl on Facebook collected enough evidence to charge him in this county. In May 2016, Det. Brian Shrader began a conversation with Waller online, and within the first 10 minutes, Shrader asked how old Waller was and told him how old “she” was.
Waller, 20, told the fictitious 13-year-old he still wanted to date her, according to a probable cause affidavit. He asked also if he could take her virginity, the affidavit said.
Waller told the girl he lived in New Castle near the prison and that he was in prison a year ago for a probation violation. That case was not a sex crime, according to online court records.
He asked the “girl” for pictures, both “regular and naked.” Shrader, posing as the girl, told Waller she would have to think about it and ended the conversation.
The next day, Waller again asked for pictures from the girl, telling her he would hide them. Shrader tried to change the subject and Waller propositioned sex.
Waller also offered to send a picture of his genitals to the girl and again asked for pictures. He told her he kept some pictures other girls had sent him on a separate memory card. He also told the girl he had pictures of a couple of girls around her age, the affidavit said.
That same month, Waller was arrested in a separate case in New Castle for child molesting.
On Nov. 2, 2018, Waller was charged in Brown County.
A no-contact order was also put in place for the victim. Brown Circuit Court also made a finding of Waller being a sexually violent predator, according to online court records.
Waller requested an appeals lawyer and public defender Kurt Young was appointed to represent him on Oct. 17.
