Convicted sex offender charged with possession of child pornography

Convicted sex offender Albert Chagnon is facing new possession of child pornography charges following a Department of Criminal Investigation (DCI) analysis of a tablet computer seized during the execution of a search warrant at his residence.

Chagnon, 42, made his initial appearance on the new charges on Wednesday, Sept. 4 at which time bail was set at $15,000 cash.

An amended complaint charging two counts of possession of child pornography was filed Sept. 3.

Oneida County district attorney Jillian Pfeifer requested bond be set at $20,000. She noted that the DCI analysis of the tablet showed over 10,000 suspected images of child pornography. 

Oneida County sheriff’s captain Bob Hebein also reviewed the images and identified approximately 10 of them as containing child pornography, she added, noting that “the situation is a bit fluid” because a cellphone belonging to Chagnon is also being analyzed and that phone is believed to contain roughly over 100,000 images of suspected child pornography.

In addition, Pfeifer noted two individuals have advised law enforcement that Chagnon was talking about “trying buy a child on the black market.”

“That is also being looked into,” she said.

Public defender Elizabeth Svehlek called the reports about attempts to buy a child “incredulous” and argued there is no evidence of ongoing criminal conduct “rather it’s an ongoing criminal investigation.”

She stressed that Chagnon does not have access to the internet at this time and the purpose of bond is to ensure the defendant will appear in court.

Judge Mike Schiek agreed with the state that a bond modification is justified.

“I appreciate the fact that the purpose of bond is to ensure that we see Mr. Chagnon in the future, however with the exposure (to prison time) now different that can cause some issues as far as coming into court in the future.”

According to the criminal complaint, the estimated age of the children shown in the images found on the tablet is four to eight years old.

A pretrial conference in that case is set for Oct. 8.

Chagnon is set to be arraigned Sept. 16 on a separate charge of failing to update sex offender information. A preliminary hearing in that case, scheduled for Wednesday morning, was waived.

That charge stems from Chagnon’s alleged failure to advise the proper authorities of a new email address. According to the complaint, registered sex offenders have 10 days to “update” information such as new email addresses. 

Chagnon is also facing a felony bail jumping charge and a charge of encouraging a probation violation after he allegedly helped another convicted sex offender, Mark Curdall Burran, 48, of Laona, acquire a cellphone that can connect to the internet in violation of probation rules.

A pretrial conference in that case is also set for Oct. 8. Burran is also facing charges related to the alleged cellphone scheme, however a new court date has not been set.

Chagnon returned to Rhinelander in the fall of 2022 after completing a sentence for violating prison rules during his incarceration on previous possession of child pornography charges.

The Rhinelander Police Department issued an alert in August 2022 in advance of Chagnon’s return to the community. In reporting on the department’s press release, the River News noted that the Department of Corrections offender locator website indicated that Chagnon would remain under Department of Corrections supervision for just over a year (until Sept. 21, 2023) and will no longer have to register as a sex offender as of Jan. 8, 2025.

According to the release, Chagnon was convicted of possession of child pornography in 2003, failure to maintain sex offender registry in 2010, failure to update sex offender information in 2013, violating state/county institution laws in 2014 and battery in 2018.

The 2014 case involved Chagnon clipping hundreds of photos of young girls and keeping them in a notebook while he was an inmate at the Oshkosh Correctional Institution.

According to court records, as Chagnon was being processed for discharge from prison, officials found a notebook containing photographs of fully clothed girls that he had clipped from The Lakeland Times and other publications.

Some of the photos were accompanied by written commentary of a graphic nature.

Following discovery of the notebook, Chagnon was charged with 23 felony counts of intentionally photographing a minor without consent and four counts of violating state/county institution laws. However, an appeals court later ordered the dismissal of the felony counts, agreeing with Chagnon’s defense attorney that those counts fell under the statute that prohibits sex offenders from “intentionally capturing a representation” of a minor without the written consent of the child’s parent, legal guardian or custodian.

Chagnon’s attorney argued that “intentionally capturing a representation” means Chagnon would have had to have produced the photos himself using a camera or recording device. 

In its written decision, the appeals court said the Legislative Reference Bureau’s analysis of 2005 Assembly Bill 251, which was the source of the statute under which Chagnon was charged, states:

“This bill prohibits persons who are required to register as sex offenders from intentionally photographing, filming, or videotaping any person under the age of 17 unless the parent, custodian, or guardian of the person under the age of 17 provides written consent.”

In addition, Chagnon did not store the “data” of the visual representations because that would have entailed digital storage, the court noted.

Following the appeals court ruling, Chagnon entered no contest pleas to three misdemeanor counts of violating state/county institution laws (as a repeater). The fourth count was read in for sentencing purposes. 

A Winnebago County judge sentenced him to one year in prison followed by one year of extended supervision, to be served consecutively, with credit for 394 days served. Chagnon completed that sentence in the fall of 2022.

If convicted of bail jumping and failure to update sex offender information, he faces a maximum of 12 years in prison. Encouraging a probation violation is a misdemeanor carrying a maximum sentence of 9 months in jail.

The two counts of possession of child pornography carry a maximum sentence of 25 years in prison with a mandatory minimum of three years. 

Heather Schaefer may be reached at [email protected].