US Attorney General Investigates Oak Harbor Case

US Attorney General Investigates Oak Harbor Case

A 35-year-old Oak Harbor man could face charges of child sexual abuse.

A 35-year-old Oak Harbor man accused of kidnapping and sexually abusing a teenager in 2023 could also face federal child sex abuse charges.

During a hearing in Island County Superior Court Monday, Deputy District Attorney Michael Safstrom said he had spoken with an assistant U.S. attorney about the allegations against Joshua Wiener. He said he would advocate for federal prosecutors to bring a case against Wiener; he pointed out that child sexual abuse is a federal crime.

A spokesperson for the US Attorney’s Office confirmed that discussions have taken place, but no decisions have been made.

Wiener, a former South Whidbey resident, pleaded not guilty to kidnapping, rape and assault in Island County Superior Court and denied guilt.

According to court documents, Wiener could also face additional charges in court based on videos he allegedly made while sexually abusing the girl when she was 14 and supplying her with methamphetamine.

A report from an Oak Harbor police detective indicates the victim was in the protective custody of the state Department of Children, Youth and Families when she left an Oak Harbor school without permission in April 2023. Police searched the area and checked her previously known addresses but were unable to locate her.

A few months later, the girl reportedly ran away from Wiener’s Oak Harbor apartment and was reunited with her mother.

The girl told police that Wiener contacted her after she ran away from school, claiming he would take her back to her mother. Instead, he took her phone, wouldn’t let her leave his house and raped her multiple times on an air mattress, the report said.

In a motion filed Sept. 20, prosecutors seek to add child pornography and drug trafficking to the long list of sex crimes he is accused of.

“The State seeks to add substantial charges relating to Joshua Wiener’s act of providing drugs to (the victim) during the time he manipulated and ultimately raped her, and his acts of making and developing video recordings depicting his sexual exploitation of (the victim),” the prosecutor’s motion states.

The proposed amended charges add three more to the list Wiener faces. If the judge agrees, he would be charged with first-degree kidnapping, first-degree rape, second-degree rape, second-degree assault with sexual motivation, distribution of narcotics to a person under 18 with sexual motivation, two counts of possession of images of a minor engaged in sexually explicit activity in the first degree, and two counts of third-degree rape of a child.

Furthermore, the public prosecutor relies on aggravating circumstances that justify a sentence outside the standard penalty limit.

If Wiener is found guilty of the charges, he faces a mandatory minimum sentence of 25 years to life in prison.