Zastawniak gets 25 year for child sex

A Peshtigo man was sentenced Sept. 20 in federal court to 25 years in prison for sexually exploiting numerous minor girls in Oconto County and Northeast Wisconsin, coercing them in sex acts, some of which he recorded.

Zachary A. Zastawniak, 24, pleaded guilty this summer to one count of child sex exploitation but District Judge William Griesbach could consider allegations of many other minors as relevant conduct.

The count to which Zastawniak pleaded to involved a 14-year-old girl in Oconto County whom he persuaded to send him a sexually explicit video of herself.

The defendant received the video via a Snapchat application on his cellphone, which he recorded for subsequent viewing, according to the plea agreement.

Zastawniak faced a 15-year mandatory minimum sentence and a maximum of 30 years.

District Judge William Griesbach imposed the 25-year term describing the case as “horribly aggravated,” and that the defendant repeatedly made “evil decisions” and engaged in “monstrous behavior,” according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office.

Griesbach also praised the victims, many of whom spoke at sentencing, for cooperating with law enforcement and ending Zastawniak’s sex crime spree.

Griesbach added a 25-year term of supervised release to follow Zastawniak’s prison sentence and required him to register as a sex offender.

In Oconto County Circuit Court, Zastawniak faces 26 counts of child sex offenses including soliciting a child for prostitution, second-degree sexual assault of a child, possessing child pornography, child enticement and trafficking a child.

The majority of the state and federal offenses approximately occurred in 2023 between June and August.

District Attorney Hannah Schuchart said that state and federal prosecutors charged Zastawniak for similar conduct and possibly involving some of the same victims.

According to Schuchart, an Oconto County juvenile is credited with helping catch Zastawniak by reporting to authorities that she met him online and was offered money, drugs and cigarettes in exchange for sex and nude photographs of juveniles, among other things.

After she was allegedly sexually assaulted by Zastawniak at an area hotel, he sought other juvenile females and made them the same offers.

The girl was prompted to report Zastawniak after he threatened to post nude photos and/or videos to the internet of the sexual assault he allegedly committed at the hotel.

Law enforcement obtained records from the hotel that listed the vehicle’s plate numbers and the victim described the date of the assault, and the type and color of the vehicle associated with the suspect.

The registration came back to Zastawniak, and the victim identified him from a photo lineup as her assailant.

By email, Schuchart described Zastawniak’s modus operandi as luring minors to secluded areas where he allegedly sexually assaulted them and recorded the alleged assault. He then allegedly used the recordings in an attempt to extort his victims for more benefits.

The main difference between the federal and state cases against Zastawniak are that the federal prosecutor charged the defendant with crimes related to the recordings while the state charged him with the sexual conduct which he allegedly committed.

The alleged sexual assaults cannot be charged in federal court and instead fall under the state’s jurisdiction.

“It is important that we resolve this case in a way that would signify and memorialize the fact that physical acts were perpetrated against minor victims,” Schuchart wrote a reporter by email.

The state will continue its prosecution of Zastawniak, said Schuchart, and there’s a Sept. 30 pre-trial conference set by Oconto County Circuit Court Judge Jay Conley.

Law enforcement agencies involved in Zastawniak’s federal case included the Oconto Falls Police, Oconto Police, Oconto County Sheriff’s Office, the North Fond du Lac Police, the Wisconsin Division of Criminal Investigations and the Kingsford, Michigan, Department of Public Safety.