Bond Set for Pittsville Man Accused of Sexual Assault of a Child

Friday, June 7th, 2024 -- 12:00 PM

(Sean White, WSAW) Bond has been set at $250,000 for a 41-year-old Pittsville man who has been charged with second-degree child sexual assault and child enticement.

According to Sean White with WSAW, Justin Hetzel made his initial appearance in Wood County Court on Monday and was charged with three felony charges of second-degree sexual assault of a child under 16 years old and one felony charge of child enticement.

The judge set a preliminary hearing and arraignment for June 10 and continued the $250K cash bond. According to the criminal complaint, on Feb. 24, 2024, the Wood County Sheriff’s Department was notified that a juvenile was having contact with a registered sex offender in the City of Pittsville.

The child’s mother told deputies that her child and Hetzel were texting and planning to meet each other. The child initially lied about their age to Hetzel, but upon learning that they were underage, Hetzel told the child he did not mind and continued to communicate with the child as the text messages turned sexual in nature.

The complaint states that Hetzel told the child numerous times to delete messages between them and turn off any notifications on their phone as well as change his contact name.

Hetzel met with the child on or between March 29 and April 29 and picked them up in his car from their house. After saying they did not want any sexual contact with Hetzel, he drove to a wooded area where he and the child engaged in sexual acts.

The child told police they were afraid Hetzel was going to rape them. They then stated that Hetzel wanted to meet up again and he told the child if anyone found out about what happened that they would both get in trouble.

Hetzel spoke with detectives and denied knowing the child and owning a cell phone.

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