BARRON COUNTY — A criminal complaint has been filed charging 10 counts of Possession of Child Pornography against Adam Rhodes, age 41, of Turtle Lake, WI.
According to the criminal complaint on February 14, 2019, the Barron County Sheriff’s Department and the Turtle Lake Police Department executed a search warrant at Rhodes’ residence in Turtle Lake, WI with the assistance of agents from the Wisconsin Division of Criminal Investigation.
The Barron County Sheriff’s Department received a report which identified an email address that was possibly being used to view and download images identified as containing child pornography. The subsequent investigation connected the email address to the physical address of Rhodes’ residence.
During the execution of the search warrant, investigators interviewed Rhodes who allegedly said that he had been living at the residence for nearly a year. The criminal complaint goes on to state that Rhodes also allegedly first told investigators that he had been looking at child pornography for about a year, and then later stated that he was surprised “it took this long” because he had been looking at child pornograhy for about ten years.
When investigators asked Rhodes if he knew that the people in the pornography images were under the age of 18 he allegedly answered, “Oh yes, most definitely.” Rhodes initially told investigators that he preferred “mature pornography” containing females age 40 or more, however later he allegedly said that he was aroused by both “mature pornography” and child pornography.
The criminal complaint states that the pornographic images located on Rhodes’ Kindle contained children ranging from age 3 to age 13 and engaged in sexual activities too graphic to describe.
Rhodes also allegedly told investigators that he found many images of child pornography on a Russian website and would look at them on his cell phone and then use an email address to send the images to a Kindle because it had a larger screen.
The maximum penalty for a conviction of Class D Felony Possession of Child Pornography is imprisonment for 25 years, a maximum fine of $100,000, or both.
Online circuit court records show that at a hearing on February 15, 2019, Rhodes was placed on a cash bail bond of $1,500. Rhodes is scheduled to appear again 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: Feb 20, 2019 6:56 am CST
