Taycheedah Man Challenges Charges

A 20-year-old Taycheedah man facing charges for possessing virtual child pornography is challenging those charges.

A motion was filed in Fond du Lac County Court Monday on behalf of Meillo Schneider claiming the charges should be dismissed because they infringe on his first amendment rights.

Last November Schneider was charged with nine counts of possession of virtual child pornography and one count of resisting or obstructing an officer. Charges were based on a new state law.  

According to the criminal complaint the investigation began last September 27^th after the Sheriff’s Office received a cyber tip from the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children which had received information from Amazon Photos Trust and Safety Team on April 12^th. Three other cyber tips had been reported about Schneider.

A search warrant was obtained for Schneider’s residence. As a result, a Sheriff’s detective reviewed thousands of photo files of anime and artistic renderings of child sexual abuse. They included images of infants and pre-pubescent children being sexually assaulted by adults.

According to the motion filed Monday it was difficult for law enforcement to determine if many of the images depicted real children or if they depicted photorealistic computer-generated children. A status conference is scheduled in the case August 4^th.