WASHBURN COUNTY -- Charges of Possession of Child Pornography have been filed against a Spooner, WI man following an investigation by DCI.
A criminal complaint has been filed in Washburn County Circuit Court charging Spooner, WI man, Jeffery Colegrove, with 10 counts of Possession of Child Pornography.
The National Center for Missing and Exploited Children received a cybertip from the website Tumblr regarding images containing suspected child pornography. This led to an investigation by the Wisconsin Division of Criminal Investigation (DCI) which revealed that Colegrove’s email address was tied to the Tumblr user account connected to the suspected images.
Special Agents for DCI conducted a forensic examination which confirmed that the images were sexually explicit images of children under the age of 18.
A search warrant was obtained for Colegrove’s Spooner, WI residence and executed on October 17, 2019. During the course of the search warrant, Law Enforcement retrieved electronic devices belonging to Colegrove which were ultimately found to contain additional images of child pornography.
During an interview by Law Enforcement, Colegrove allegedly admitted to using websites such as Tumblr, Twitter, and Pinterest to locate images of child pornography when he would use methamphetamine, according to the criminal complaint. Colegrove also allegedly stated that he would save the images.
The criminal complaint filed against Colegrove states that he provided passwords to Law Enforcement for the electronic devices that were retrieved from his residence, and also told where the pornographic images were stored on the devices.
When questioned by Law Enforcement, Colegrove denied any sexual contact with any children, stating that he is not sexually attracted to children and doesn’t know why he looked at child pornography.
Colegrove is charged with 10 counts of Class D Felony Possession of Child Pornography. If convicted as charged, Colegrove faces a potential maximum sentence of 25 years imprisonment on each count. An initial appearance is scheduled for Colegrove on November 4, 2019.
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 30, 2019 7:41 am CDT
