Kivisto, of Wind Lake, accused of secretly recording girls
A former Wind Lake Gymnastics Center owner and coach accepted plea bargain on charges of possessing child pornography and video recording children while using the bathroom at a hearing Monday in Racine County Circuit Court.
James Kivisto, 50, of Wind Lake, originally faced 28 felony counts, including 10 counts of possession of child pornography before he took the plea on Monday.
As part of the agreement, according to online court records, Kivisto pleaded no contest to three counts of possession of child pornography and 10 counts of invasion of privacy–use of a surveillance device to record victims under 18 years old.
All other charges were dismissed.
Kivisto, who originally pleaded not guilty in May, will appear at a sentencing hearing Feb. 15 before Circuit Court Judge Mark Nielsen.
Racine County Assistant District Attorney Dirk Christian Jensen plans to request 20 years incarceration followed by another 20 years extended supervision.
According to the criminal complaint, each possession of child pornography charge carries a maximum prison term of 25 years and a $1,000 fine while invasion of privacy–use of a surveillance device to record victims under 18 years old has three-year maximum imprisonment per count.
The complaint contends Kivisto, who lived at the gymnastics center at 7923 S. Loomis Road, started using the recording device to collect videos of children in various stages of undress as early as 2014.
The recordings were not discovered until March, when a parent of a child found a camera in the bathroom of the center, the complaint states.
The parent decided to take the camera home and observed video, which showed Kivisto setting up the device, and later saw a teenaged girl adjusting her hair in the mirror.
“He stopped watching at that point and that after talking to a couple of people he contacted law enforcement,” the complaint states.
Kivisto, according to the complaint, admitted to investigators he used the videos for sexual arousal.
Investigators later uncovered hundreds of images of children on his electronic devices.
For additional court news see the Dec. 14 edition of the Waterford Post.
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