Ex-port authority director accused of child solicitation

COSHOCTON - The former executive director of the Coshocton Port Authority entered a plea of guilty Thursday to a charge of soliciting a child for prostitution in Wisconsin.

Thomas M. “T.J.” Justice, 50, is set to be sentenced on the Level D felony March 2 by the Wisconsin Circuit Court in Waukesha County, according to online court records.

A charge of child enticement for prostitution, also a Level D felony, was dropped. A jury trial was set to start next week, according to court records.

A Level D felony in Wisconsin is punishable by up to 25 years in prison and a $100,000 fine.

Justice is free on bond as long as he adheres to court mandates and has no contact with juvenile females.

Justice was indicted April 21 on charges relating to text messages he had been sending to a 16-year-old girl in Muskego for nearly a year, including offering money for sex.

Justice resigned as administrator for the City of West Bend amidst the criminal allegations on May 13, per the Washington County Insider.

Justice was with the Coshocton Port Authority from 2007 to 2010. He initially left Coshocton for a job in the tourism industry in the Cincinnati area where he was originally from, according to Tribune archives. The Wisconsin court website has his current address listed in Cincinnati.