Prosecutors: Firefighter accused of possession of child porn was caught by wife, downloaded files at work

MILWAUKEE -- 44-year-old Robert Rutley, a Milwaukee firefighter accused of possession of child pornography made his initial appearance in federal court on Tuesday, February 21st before Magistrate Judge Timothy Cavan in Billings, Montana.

Rutley was taken into custody without incident on Friday, February 17th after a traffic stop in Big Horn County, Montana. This, after a federal search warrant was executed at Milwaukee Fire Department Engine House 29 near 84th and Morgan on Milwaukee's southwest side on February 10th. After a forensic review of evidence seized during the search warrant on February 10th, a federal arrest warrant was obtained for Rutley, who fled the area.

During the follow-up investigation, the FBI determined Rutley was in Montana. The FBI coordinated with the Montana Highway Patrol and on February 17th, Rutley was taken into custody.

Robert Rutley

During his court appearance in Montana Tuesday, Rutley was remanded into custody for transport to the Eastern District of Wisconsin.

A federal criminal complaint charges Rutley with possession of child pornography.

According to that criminal complaint, when the search warrant was executed at the fire house on February 10th, Rutley was found lying in a recliner, watching TV with a phone in his hand and a tablet within arm's reach. Rutley was taken to the West Allis Police Department to be interviewed.

The complaint says Rutley told investigators "he had been interested in child pornography since 2000 or 2001" and he admitted to using peer-to-peer software programs to access child porn. He said he was currently using uTorrent, and estimated he had "at least 1,000 child pornography files" on his tablet. He told investigators he preferred "girls ages 10 or older."

He couldn't explain to investigators why he was interested in child porn, but admitted to "actively looking for it, downloading files, reviewing the content, deleting what he didn't like and placing the files he liked into a folder." He said he often felt "guilty" and said he deleted his collection "several times" over the years, the complaint says.

Rutley told investigators he was caught by his wife for possessing images of children, and as a result of that, he began downloading child porn at work, instead of at home, the complaint says.

Rutley's tablet was reviewed on February 12th, and the complaint says "thousands" of child porn files were located on it.

This is not Rutley's first time in trouble. Back in 2013, Rutley was one of several firefighters accused of vandalizing Engine House 32. A report on the vandalism described damaged drywall, a dead mouse inside a locker and feces in a floor drain.