Santa Barbara Man Pleads Not Guilty to Multiple Sex Crimes
Sheriff’s Office Releases Photo of Suspect William Trautwein Jr., 21, to Aid Survivors in Identification
More details have emerged from the Santa Barbara Sheriff’s Office about the arrest of 21-year-old William James Trautwein Jr., who was arrested on February 1 on a warrant for multiple sex crimes.
A statement from the Santa Barbara District Attorney’s Office released on February 7 confirmed that Trautwein has been charged with 15 felony counts involving three separate victims. Court records disclosed that Trautwein has multiple charges stemming from a two-year period, including sex crimes against a minor, rape, four counts of assault likely to produce great bodily injury, and one count of possession of child pornography.
According to the DA’s press release, Trautwein is being held in jail without bail at this time and entered a plea of not guilty on Monday, February 5, to all of the charges he faces. Trautwein will appear in Santa Barbara Superior Court for a preliminary hearing on Tuesday, February 27.
Sheriff’s detectives also shared the booking picture of Trautwein in hopes that additional survivors or anyone with knowledge of additional crimes associated with Trautwein contact the Sheriff’s Office. Raquel Zick, the Sheriff’s public information officer, released in a statement on February 7 that since Trautwein’s arrest, detectives have heard from additional survivors and have requested that the DA’s Office file additional charges.
If you have additional information regarding Trautwein, the District Attorney’s Office and the Sheriff’s Office ask that you please contact Detective Plett by phone at 805-681-4150. If you would like to remain anonymous, information may be submitted to https://www.sbsheriff.org/home/anonymous-tip/ or by calling 805-681-4171.
