Oneida County man charged with possession of child pornography

A federal grand jury has indicted a 72-year-old Newbold man on a possession of child pornography charge, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Western District of Wisconsin announced Friday.

The indictment alleges that from September 4, 2021 to June 23, 2023, James H. Hornung possessed a 128 GB Lenovo IdeaPad 1 and six GB SanDisk flash drives containing visual depictions of minors engaging in sexually explicit conduct. The indictment further alleges that at least one of the depictions Hornung possessed involved a prepubescent minor or a minor who had not attained 12 years of age.

The penalties for possession of child pornography vary depending upon an individual’s prior criminal history. If convicted, Hornung faces a minimum penalty of 10 years in prison and a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison.

The charge against Hornung is the result of an investigation by the Oneida County Sheriff’s Office and the Wisconsin Department of Justice Division of Criminal Investigation. Assistant U.S. Attorney Kathryn Ginsberg is handling the case.

This investigation was a part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative to combat child sexual exploitation and abuse. Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state, and local resources to better locate, apprehend, and prosecute individuals who exploit children via the Internet, as well as to identify and rescue victims. 

For more information about Project Safe Childhood, visit www.justice.gov/psc.