By Patricia Bogumil
Editor
A Wind Lake man whose computer broke down after he allegedly downloaded a “torrent” of child pornographic images faces imprisonment for the rest of his life after being charged with 20 felony counts of possession of child pornography.
According to the criminal complaint approved for filing Sept. 12 in Racine County Circuit Court:
Oak Creek Police contracted the Racine County Sheriff’s Office on July 6 after a computer repair technician at DK Systems in Oak Creek reported child pornography on the hard drive of a computer brought in for repairs July 5.
Employees had contacted the Oak Creek Police Department when the images were found, and turned over the computer and hard drive to them.
The owner of the computer and hard drive is Marcel R. Trautwein, 61, Wind Lake. Employees said Trautwein had asked that the files on his old computer be transferred to a new computer he intended to purchase.
During an interview conducted at the Racine County Sheriff’s Office July 6, Trautwein reportedly stated that he obtained child pornography while surfing the web and said none of it was “homemade.”
He admitted to doing 500 to 600 searches resulting in child pornography during the last five or six years. He admitted to knowing the material was child pornography and said he didn’t agree with everything he saw, explaining that “some of the kids were pretty young.”
He said his computer crashed in July while he was downloading a torrent of child pornography.
Trautwein’s computer was sent to the Wisconsin Department of Justice’s Division of Criminal Investigation for forensic examination.
One DVD with 1,590 images was reportedly obtained from Trautwein’s hard drive.
Other DVDs reportedly contained 211 video files, many of children engaged in sexually explicit conduct.
The forensic analysis also reported hundreds of other video files on the hard drive with file names indicative of child pornography, but which were not playable.
The charges carry total maximum penalties of $2 million in fines and 560 years in prison. In addition, Trautwein faces a maximum of $10,000 in special court-imposed surcharges, if convicted of all charges.
His schedule of upcoming appearances in Racine County Circuit were not yet posted online as of press time Wednesday.
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