Dennis Tomashek pleads not guilty, charged with 5 counts of possession of child pornography

MILWAUKEE COUNTY -- Dennis Tomashek of St. Francis pleaded not guilty on Monday, April 1 to five counts of possession of child pornography.

According to the criminal complaint against Tomashek, a detective received a report on March 11 from the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC). It was regarding apparent child pornography coming from a Tumblr application associated with Tomashek.

The complaint said the detective reviewed the report and two photographs were identified as being inappropriate photos of a young girl.

Dennis Tomashek

A search warrant was then executed at Tomashek’s residence in St. Francis on March 20. The complaint indicated “multiple electronics were obtained by officers, including a laptop that was taken from a desk in a spare bedroom of the residence.” That laptop was examined by investigators. They found 14 images of child pornography on the device.

According to the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee’s website, Tomashek was hired by the university as a lecturer back in 2007.

Tomashek waived his right to a preliminary hearing on Monday -- and the court bound him over for trial. Tomashek is due back in court on April 18. Each count against Tomashek comes with a maximum penalty of 25 years in prison and $100,000 in fines.