By Patricia Bogumil
Interim Editor
A 34-year-old Rochester man has been charged with two felony counts of possession of child pornography.
Ryan P. Josing, 300 E. Spring St., was arrested after Racine County investigators received a tip from a Walworth County Sheriff’s Department detective who was conducting an undercover operation to identify people using the Internet to traffic in child pornography.
According to the criminal complaint filed April 23 in Racine County Circuit Court:
The Walworth County detective gave Racine investigators a computer Internet Protocol (IP) address belonging to Josing, which the detective reported had been sharing online video child pornography.
Josing told Racine investigators that he lives alone and the computer access at his home is in his name alone.
He admitted to having an interest in teen pornography and knows that what he is doing is illegal and that he could be caught, but referred to it as a “rush.”
Josing admitted going online to file-sharing websites to search for images depicting girls as young as ages 11 and 12.
He described the activity as “disgusting,” and added: “I mean, I’m not going to try and defend myself, I don’t know what’s wrong with me.”
Besides the two videos located by the Walworth County detective via search warrant, Racine investigators report they found at least six other videos and multiple images of child pornography on Josing’s computer hard drive.
If convicted of both felony charges, he faces more than $200,000 in fines and 50 years in prison, or both.
Josing appeared in Racine County Circuit Court for an initial appearance April 23, when a surety bond of $10,000 was set in order to secure his release.
As a condition of that bond, Josing can have no contact with minors and cannot purchase any additional computers or have Internet access.
He is next scheduled in court May 9 for a preliminary hearing to determine if there is sufficient evidence to move his case to trial.
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