HUTCHINSON, Kan. — A 59-year-old Hutchinson man sentenced to over 19 years in prison for convictions of electronic solicitation and violation of the offender registration act is appealing his conviction.
Steven Peterman was arrested back on Feb. 12, 2014, when he was allegedly waiting to pick up an underage girl in the parking lot of the Hutchinson Mall. He was accused of texting via cell phone with Sheriff Detective Diana Skomal, who posed as the 15 year old. He allegedly went to the mall to pick her up with the intention of assisting her in running away from home, but also to teach her sex.
In his appeal, he claims that the court erred for not including his theory that he was entrapped by law enforcement. The state argues that there was no entrapment.
Both sides will give their arguments to the Kansas Court of Appeals at the Federal Courthouse in Wichita.
Peterman received the large sentence because of his prior criminal history.
He’s served time in prison for two counts of attempted rape and electronic solicitation of a child from a case in 2001. In fact, during the trial in this case, Judge Trish Rose read details of those crimes to the jury as stipulated facts to show that he was required to register as a sex offender.