April 24, 2023 at 12:15 p.m.
Preliminary hearing held for former teacher accused of possessing child pornography
By Trevor Greene-
The MHLT school board accepted Lucas Aschbrenner's letter of resignation during a March 9 special meeting. The 45-year-old was arrested at his Arbor Vitae home on March 2.
Court records show Aschbrenner's attorney, Albert Moustakis, filed a motion prior to April 14 seeking dismissal of his client's charge due to a lack of probable cause.
The court, however, has yet to review it, according to court records from the April 14 hearing, and Vilas County district attorney Karl Hayes indicated he is "not ready to treat this as a victim case due to identification."
When the Wisconsin Department of Justice (DOJ) issued a press release announcing Aschbrenner's arrest, it said law enforcement obtained a search warrant based on the result of a "child sexual abuse material (CSAM) cyber tip originating at Aschbrenner's home internet service."
That cyber tip was forwarded to a detective with the Vilas County Sheriff's Office by the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, according to the criminal complaint filed March 6.
The images "appeared to constitute child pornography," the complaint said.
According to the complaint, Aschbrenner's laptop was analyzed by forensic experts.
The analysis showed the defendant's laptop contained up to eight explicit internet searches related to child pornography and pedophilia, as well as several images from books which depict nude children on the laptop's hard drive, the complaint said.
Also identified on Aschbrenner's laptop, according to the complaint, was software titled CCleaner, "a utility which can remove/delete digital files from a hard drive, and delete the internet browsing history from one's computer."
Aschbrenner, who is free on a $25,000 cash bond, is prohibited from accessing the internet, is not allowed to leave Vilas or Oneida counties and may not have contact with any minors.
He is due back in court on May 24 at 9 a.m. for the motion hearing and another preliminary hearing.
If convicted, Aschbrenner could face maximum penalties not to exceed $100,000 in fines or imprisonment of 25 years, or both.
Trevor Greene may be reached via email at [email protected].
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