Wisconsin man faces child pornography charges

MADISON, Wis. – A La Crosse resident was indicted Wednesday with distributing and possessing child pornography. The charges resulted from an investigation conducted by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement's (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), the Wisconsin Department of Justice's Division of Criminal Investigation, the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Toronto Police Department.

Jeremy Hogenkamp, 35, is charged with two counts of distributing child pornography and one count of possessing child pornography. A federal grand jury returned the indictments Nov. 16.

The indictment alleges that Hogenkamp distributed image and video files of minors engaged in sexually explicit conduct on Dec. 31, 2009 and Jan. 5, 2010. The indictment also alleges that on Feb. 4, 2010, he possessed a computer hard drive containing visual depictions of child pornography.

If convicted, Hogenkamp faces a mandatory minimum penalty of five years and a maximum of 20 years in federal prison on each distribution count, and a maximum penalty of 10 years in federal prison on the possession count.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Timothy M. O'Shea, Western District of Wisconsin, is prosecuting the case.

The public is reminded that a complaint contains only charges and is not evidence of guilt. The defendant is presumed innocent and is entitled to a fair trial at which the government has the burden of proving guilt beyond a reasonable doubt.

The investigation is part of ICE's Operation Predator, a nationwide initiative to identify, investigate and arrest those who sexually exploit children, and the Department of Justice's Project Safe Childhood, which marshals federal, state, and local resources to locate, apprehend, and prosecute individuals who exploit children using the Internet.

As part of Operation Predator, ICE encourages the public to report suspected child predators and any suspicious activity through its toll-free hotline at 1-866-347-2423 or via its online tip form. Suspected child sexual exploitation or missing children may be reported to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, an Operation Predator partner, at 1-800-843-5678 or http://www.cybertipline.com.