BARRON COUNTY -- Criminal charges for possession of child pornography have been filed against a Rice Lake, WI man, following an investigation by the Rice Lake Police Department and the Wisconsin Division of Criminal Investigation.
The Rice Lake Police Department received two Cybertips from the Wisconsin Department of Justice (DOJ). A social media platform had identified and reported possible child pornography to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC). The reported files contained sexually explicit images of children and had been shared or uploaded by a user of the social media platform. The IP address associated with the user’s profile was identified as belonging to Wayne Raschke of Rice Lake, WI.
Investigators confirmed that Raschke was living at the residence in Rice Lake that was associated with the IP address. On September 28, 2021, the Rice Lake Police Department and the DCI executed a search warrant at the residence. Raschke was at the residence and Investigators interviewed him regarding the reason for the search warrant.
Raschke allegedly told Investigators that he had been sleeping at that residence since January 2021. When told that his social media account had been used to send images of child pornography, Raschke initially said that he had not used that social media platform for a few years. However, Raschke allegedly later admitted to joining groups in which users shared pornography with each other on that social media platform.
When asked if he had shared files showing images of child pornography with other users, Raschke allegedly indicated that it was possible, according to the criminal complaint. When asked if the files showed females under the age of 18, Raschke allegedly said, “ Looked younger than 18, that’s possible”.
Raschke is charged with one count of Class D Felony Possession of Child Pornography. Online circuit court records show that at a hearing on September 30, 2021, the Court placed Raschke on a $10,000 signature bond. Conditions of his bail bond prohibit Raschke from having any unsupervised contact with minors under the age of 18.
Raschke appeared most recently on October 5, 2021, regarding his charges, and a preliminary examination hearing is scheduled to be held later this month.
Pursuant to the direction of the Wisconsin Supreme Court, as found in Supreme Court Rule 20:3.6, Trial Publicly, you are advised that a charge is merely an accusation and that a defendant is presumed innocent until and unless proven guilty.
Last Update: Oct 12, 2021 7:58 am CDT
