February 1, 2017 at 3:36 p.m.
Rhinelander teen charged with possession of child porn
Rhinelander teen charged with possession of child porn
According to the criminal complaint, Brett A. Alsteens was arrested Jan. 26 at his residence by agents of the Wisconsin Department of Justice - Division of Criminal Investigation after they and deputies from the Oneida and Vilas county sheriff's departments executed a search warrant.
According to the police report attached to the criminal complaint, the investigation began after the state Department of Justice received a tip from the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children on Sept. 29, 2015 that an image allegedly consistent with child pornography had been uploaded to the internet.
The IP address associated with the account was later traced to Alsteens' Rhinelander address, the complaint states.
The report alleges the DOJ received another tip in August 2016 that was also traced to an email account using the same IP address.
When the search warrant was executed, the hard drives from a tower and laptop computers in Alsteens' bedroom were seized and examined. A video allegedly consisting of child pornography was found on the tower hard drive, according to the complaint.
Alsteens made his initial court appearance before Branch I judge Patrick O'Melia Jan. 27. O'Melia scheduled an adjourned initial appearance for Feb. 20 to give the defendant time to obtain a lawyer. Alsteens was released on a $20,000 signature bond with the condition that he may not possess or use any technology to access the internet.
If convicted of the class D felony, Alsteens may be sentenced to up to 25 years in prison and fined up to $100,000. Under state statute concerning certain child sex offenses, the mandatory minimum prison sentence he could receive is three years.
Jamie Taylor may be reached at [email protected].
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