CHARGED: Technician finds child pornography on Sheboygan man's computer
Thomas Wirth
SHEBOYGAN (WITI) -- 42-year-old Thomas Wirth of Sheboygan is charged with ten criminal counts of possession of child pornography.
According to the criminal complaint filed in this case, Wirth had reached out to a computer technician on January 15th because his computer "was having problems powering on." The technician fixed the issue -- and "then checked other programs to ensure there were no other problems." That included conducting a virus scan.
During that scan, the technician told police he noted a program that was running. The complaint indicates the technician clicked on the program and "discovered files that appeared to contain child pornography, at which point he notified police." An officer dispatched to check on the call seized the computer tower and hard drive.
The next day, officers made contact with Wirth. The complaint says he confirmed he had provided the technician with "his computer for repair and spontaneously stated it might contain child pornography." He admitted to the detective to using a "peer-to-peer network...to obtain the pornography."
If convicted, Wirth faces 150 years in prison.
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