March 13, 2023 at 12:36 p.m.
Teacher accused of possessing child pornography free on $25,000 cash bond
MHLT board accepts Aschbrenner's resignation
Teacher accused of possessing child pornography free on $25,000 cash bond
By Trevor Greene-
Lucas Aschbrenner, 45, Arbor Vitae, is free on a $25,000 cash bond set by Vilas County judge Daniel Overbey.
Bond conditions include no access to the internet and no contact with minors. Aschbrenner was also to be fitted with a GPS monitoring device and must stay in Vilas or Oneida County.
According to a criminal complaint filed March 6, a detective with the Vilas County sheriff's office received a tip Feb. 28 from the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC) of image uploads from the Microsoft Bing search engine that "appeared to constitute child pornography."
The internet protocol (IP) address was traced back to Aschbrenner's personal computer, according to the complaint.
On March 2, the Vilas County detective and an investigator with the state Department of Justice's Division of Criminal Investigation executed a search warrant at Aschbrenner's home. His laptop was recovered.
Before he was arrested, investigators noted Aschbrenner denied ever using Bing Images.
After further forensic analysis, the complaint states Aschbrenner's laptop was found to have up to eight explicit internet searches related to child pornography and pedophilia.
The complaint also lists five "key words" which allegedly appeared in uniform resource locators (URLs) on the laptop, one of which included "various articles pertaining to people who have been arrested for possession of child pornography."
Additionally, the complaint states the digital forensic examiner identified several images from books which depict nude children on the laptop's hard drive.
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."
As of Thurdsay, March 9, Aschbrenner is no longer employed by MHLT.
The MHLT school district's board of education accepted his resignation during a special meeting Thursday.
It was effective immediately.
If convicted of the Class D felony, Aschbrenner faces a fine of up to $100,000 and imprisonment for 25 years, or both.
A motion hearing in this case is scheduled for March 15 at 11:30 a.m. and a preliminary hearing is scheduled for April 14 at 2 p.m. at the Vilas County Courthouse in Eagle River.
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