Man who sent photo to agent posing as girl pleads to felony charges again
In a case delayed by twists and turns, a 46-year-old Saukville man accused in 2020 of sending a lewd photo of himself to a special agent posing as a 13-year-old girl has pleaded — for a second time — to felony charges.
Jason M. Link’s pleas of no contest were accepted by Ozaukee County Circuit Judge Steve Cain, who found him guilty of four counts of soliciting an intimate representation from a minor during a March 11 hearing.
Six counts of possession of child pornography and one count of causing a minor to view sexual activity were dismissed as part of a plea agreement but read into the record, which means Cain can consider them when he sentences Link on May 22.
Assistant District Attorney Kerra Stumbris is recommending that Link be sentenced to three years in prison followed by seven years of extended supervision.
The case appeared to be resolved nearly two years ago when on June 13, 2022, Link pleaded guilty to one count of soliciting an intimate representation of a minor and one count of possession of child pornography.
But before he was sentenced, Link hired a new attorney, Nicole Masnica, who successfully argued that Link should be allowed to withdraw his guilty pleas because his previous lawyer failed to explain to him a possible defense against the child pornography charges, which since then have been the sticking point in the case.
The investigation that led to Link’s arrest began after the U.S. Department of Homeland Security notified the Wisconsin Department of Justice in January 2020 that Link was suspected of sending sexually explicit messages to a 13-year-old girl in Kansas City, Mo.
A special agent with the Wisconsin Department of Justice’s Internet Crimes Against Children and Computer Crimes Task Force created an Instagram account posing as a 13-year-old girl who lives in Minona and sent a message that read, “Hey, is that wisco in your pic?” to Link, who at the time was living temporarily in Cedarburg with his family after their Saukville home was damage by fire. He has since moved back to Saukville, according to court records.
Between May and August 2020, Link and the agent posing as the girl exchanged numerous messages in which Link claimed he was 16, asked if the girl wanted to have sex and, after the girl told him how old she was, wrote, “O damn baby I love 13,” a criminal complaint states.
Link also told the agent posing as the girl that he wanted to have sex with a girl and her mother.
During an exchange in August 2020, Link asked the agent he thought was a girl to send him “sexy pics.” The agent replied “you first.” In response, Link sent a photo of a naked man sitting in a chair, according to the complaint.
The photo, however, showed more than a naked man.
On Sept. 22, 2020, officers executed a search warrant at Link’s home in Cedarburg, and the agent who had posed as the girl recognized a wooden computer desk in the bedroom, the carpet, computer chair and bed frame in the home from the photo Link had sent via Instagram, according to the complaint.
Link was home at the time, as was his wife, who told authorities that her husband is a day trader and that she does not have access to his computers or other electronic devices.
An examination of those devices later found several pornographic images of prepubescent girls and men, according to the complaint.
But Masnica argued that Link did not knowingly possess the images, a key element of the pornography charges against him, and aggressively challenged the state’s case, including by unsuccessfully asking an appeals court to review rulings Cain made on various defense motions.
During the March 11 plea hearing, Cain ordered a presentence investigation and allowed Link to remain free in lieu of $5,000 bail until his sentencing.
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