Grand Island teen gets long prison sentence for sex crimes

GRAND ISLAND, Neb. (KSNB) - A Grand Island teenager is likely to spend decades in prison for sexual assault and child pornography.

Hall County District Court records show Israel Trautman, 19, was sentenced to a total of 67-124 years in prison.

He was accused of victimizing five young girls and was convicted last fall of two counts of first degree sexual assault, three counts of visual depiction of sexually explicit conduct, and four counts of child abuse. Court records show that Trautman made a plea agreement in October for which prosecutors dropped nine counts of human trafficking and one count of visual depiction of sexually explicit conduct.

A district judge Friday sentenced Trautman to 25-50 years each on the two sexual assault convictions, three to four years each on the three counts of visual depiction and two to three years each for the four child abuse convictions. The sentences are to run consecutively or one after another. The longer terms on each sentence represent the maximum prison times allowed by state statute for each crime.

The judge also ordered Trautman to register as a sex offender.

Grand Island Police arrested Trautman after investigators found dozens of sexually explicit pictures on his cell phone and electronic devices. An arrest affidavit listed five girls as victims, two of which were 14 years old, the other victims were 13, 17 and 18 years of age.

After Trautman’s arrest, Grand Island Police issued a statement which said in part, “This was a lengthy investigation that demonstrates the ability of a single suspect to prey on multiple youth within a community. The outcome of this investigation is a step forward in building a safer community for our youth. If young people are being exploited, it is a crime and should be reported by calling your local police or the FBI Hotline at 1-800-Call-FBI.”