Stratford Man Accused Of Improper Solicitation Of 14-Year-Old: PD

WESTPORT, CT — A 36-year-old Stratford man, who is listed as a registered sex offender, was arrested by Westport police last month after authorities accused him of making "graphic sexual comments" online to a 14-year-old boy, who he tried to meet in a parking lot in town.

Paul Sastrum was arrested on a warrant on Dec. 28, and was charged with a felony of using a computer service to "Entice/Induce/Coerce [a] Minor" to sex. He remains in custody and is being held in lieu of bail of $250,000.

In February of last year, Westport police were notified about a YouTube video showing four individuals recording in the parking lot of 397 Post Rd East.

"Three of the four individuals in the video had allegedly been communicating with the fourth, identified as Paul Sastrum, via online chat," Westport Police Lt. Eric Woods said in a statement. "The three individuals who were recording the incident alleged that, during the chat, one of them told Sastrum [that] they were a 14-year-old male. Once Sastrum was aware that he was chatting with a 14-year-old male, the individuals recording the incident allege he made graphic sexual comments and made it clear he wanted to meet."

Woods said that Sastrum and the group allegedly agreed to meet in the Westport parking lot, and upon his arrival, the group began the recording.

"At the end of the recording Sastrum leaves in a vehicle bearing a Connecticut registration plate," Woods said. "This registration plate returned the necessary information to identify the alleged suspect as Paul Sastrum."

Additional details of the incident were not disclosed.

Sastrum was convicted of fourth-degree sexual assault of a minor in 2004, according to the Connecticut Sex Offender Registry.

Westport police obtained an arrest warrant for Sastrum, and he was taken into custody while at Stamford Superior Court.

He is scheduled to appear in court on Feb. 1, according to the Clerk's Office in Stamford Superior Court, as of Wednesday, no attorney is listed as representing him.