Dalton Vandeloo pleads not guilty to sexploitation charges

SHEBOYGAN -- 21-year-old Dalton Vandeloo pleaded not guilty on Wednesday, September 12th to charges including third-degree sexual assault, possession of child pornography, child sexploitation and threats to communicate derogatory information.

In court on Wednesday, Vandeloo was wearing a red jump suit and sat expressionless, looking straight ahead, as he heard the charges against him.

Prosecutors say Vandeloo is the man behind a perverted scheme to obtain naked pictures of girls and sex.

According to prosecutors, Vandeloo is represented by different profiles and names online. They allege Vandeloo sent messages to random girls -- promising cash for naked pictures. At least two women took the bait.

Prosecutors say with pictures in hand, Vandeloo then blackmailed each of them for more.

"He was able to make the threat -- if you don't send the photos I'm not only going to post the picture, but I'm going to send it to your family, boyfriend, whoever it is," Assistant District Attorney Joel Urmanski said.

In court, a detective from the Sheboygan Police Department explained how one 19-year-old sent pictures and video to Vandeloo for months before it got worse.

"She had met a person subsequently identified as Dalton Vandeloo seven or eight times," Detective Matt Walsh said.

Prosecutors say some meetings included sex with the girl -- hoping it would mean the pictures would be gone. The victim eventually went to police and Vandeloo was arrested in a sting operation.

Vandeloo's attorney, however, wants to know what took the girl so long to turn to police.

Prosecutors say they found photos of another victim (a 16-year-old girl) on Vandeloo's computer, and they believe there could be more victims. Police are urging these victims to come forward.

If convicted, Vandeloo faces up to 55 years in prison.

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