Shorewood Man Charged in Federal Court with Transportation of Child Pornography, Possession of Child Pornography, and Accessing a Protected Computer
| U.S. Attorney’s Office December 14, 2011 |
United States Attorney James L. Santelle of the Eastern District of Wisconsin announced that on December 13, 2011, a grand jury returned an indictment against Kenneth J. Johnson, (age: 55), of Shorewood, Wisconsin on three charges of transportation of child pornography, one count of possession of child pornography, and one count of accessing a protected computer.
The indictment alleges that on March 31, April 25 and June 17, 2011, Johnson shared image and video files containing child pornography over the Internet via a peer-to-peer file-sharing program on his home computers with undercover agents of the Federal Bureau of Investigation in Los Angeles, California; Springfield, Illinois; and Kansas City, Missouri. If convicted of Transportation of Child Pornography (sharing files), Johnson faces a minimum of five years and a maximum of 20 years’ imprisonment, and a fine of up to $250,000 on each count. The indictment further alleges that on April 25, 2011, Johnson shared these files by obtaining unauthorized access to a neighbor’s encrypted WiFi router to connect to the Internet. If convicted of this offense, Johnson faces a maximum of five years’ imprisonment and a fine of up to $250,000. The indictment also alleges that on August 4, 2011, Johnson possessed child pornography. If convicted of possession, Johnson faces a maximum of 10 years’ imprisonment and a fine of up to $250,000.
The defendant was charged based upon an investigation by the Los Angeles, Springfield, Kansas City, and Milwaukee offices of the Federal Bureau of Investigation Cyber Crimes Task Force, as well as the City of Milwaukee Police Department. It is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Brian Resler.
An indictment is only a charge and is not evidence of guilt. A defendant is presumed innocent and is entitled to a fair trial at which the government must prove guilt beyond a reasonable doubt.