RACINE -- Racine police have charged 30-year-old Michael Sosa of Racine with 20 counts of possession of child pornography.
The criminal complaint in the case says investigators learned Sosa's IP address had been participating in the distribution of child pornography, and had several files available for sharing that had known child pornography contained in them.
Investigators obtained a search warrant through an AT&T subpoena and searched the residence where the IP address was registered, and interviewed Sosa. Sosa admitted that he was in possession of child pornography, and had downloaded most of it five to seven years previously, according to the criminal complaint. Sosa told investigators he had obtained most of his child pornography from Yahoo Instant Messaging and from a peer-to-peer sharing network. Sosa admitted to sharing images and videos he obtained with people he met online, according to the criminal complaint.
The criminal complaint states investigators found 20 files on Sosa's desktop computer containing child pornography, but a detective said there were several other files on the computer believed to contain child pornography. Of the 20 files viewed by investigators, 10 contained still frame images and 10 were videos showing children engaging in sexual activity or posed in a manner that their genitalia was displayed in a lewd manner.
The criminal complaint says Sosa said he never created any child pornography, but did admit to going on chat sites with teens, where they would use web cams and film themselves in sexual situations. Sosa told investigators he would use his cell phone to photograph his computer monitor.
Each of the 20 counts Sosa faces is a felony, and if convicted, the maximum penalty for each count includes a $100,000 fine, and 25 years in prison, or both.