Man faces sex charges after photo leads cops to him

An Ozaukee County circuit judge on Tuesday set bail at $250,000 for a 28-year-old man charged with sending photos of him sexually assaulting his 8-year-old autistic son to a woman he met online.

The Town of Cedarburg resident, who Ozaukee Press is not naming to protect the identity of the victim, was charged Tuesday, May 26, with a litany of offenses — three counts of possession of child pornography, repeated sexual assault of a child, incest and sexual exploitation of a child, all felonies. He also faces two misdemeanor counts of sexual gratification with an animal.

The charges carry a total maximum penalty of 135 years in prison.

The investigation began in April when the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children forwarded a tip to the Wisconsin Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force regarding a photo of a partially naked  female toddler that had been sent via a social media site.

Authorities traced the image to the Town of Cedarburg man, and on May 22 officers from the Ozaukee County Sheriff’s Office and Wisconsin Department of Justice searched his home.

When asked about a picture of a female toddler, the man said he was communicating with a man in an online chat forum that  dealt with incest and was sent the photo, which was reportedly of the sender’s daughter, according to the criminal complaint. 

The Town of Cedarburg man told authorities he fantasizes about incest and saved the photo on his phone, later sending it to another user of a social media site, the complaint states.

Authorities also found on the man’s phone photos of him sexually assaulting his son, who he said has autism, according to the complaint. 

He said he is in an online relationship with a girl from Canada who “hijacked his train of thought in some way” and instructed him to do sexual “stuff” with his son, the complaint states. The man said he took photos of himself with his son and sent them to the girl.

Authorities discovered other sexual photos of the man’s son on his phone as well as a child pornography video.

Also found on his phone were photos that appeared to show the man having sexual contact with the family dog, according to the complaint.

During the investigation, the Ozaukee County Sheriff’s Office was working with the Jefferson County Sheriff’s Department in Colorado on an investigation there that led them to believe the Town of Cedarburg man had been sexting with a 14-year-old Jefferson County girl, according to the complaint. The girl’s parents had taken away her cell phone and discovered that she had been communicating with the Town of Cedarburg man. 

When questioned by authorities, the man, who admitted he knew the girl was 14, said he sent her sexually explicit photos of himself and received photos of her naked.

During a hearing this week, Ozaukee County Circuit Judge Paul Malloy ordered the man not to have contact with his son, the Colorado girl, anyone younger than 18 or domestic animals if he posts bail and is released from jail. Malloy also ordered him not to possess any sort of electronic device.