MONROE — A Monticello man hit with child pornography charges in 2023 following a National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC) tip to local law enforcement has been sentenced to three years in prison for his crimes. In a similar case that also originated with NCMEC, a Monroe man has been recently charged with child pornography.

In 2023, following an investigation, Corey L. Wurtzbacher was charged with the three counts of Possession of Child Pornography and one count of Sexual Exploitation of a Child, authorities said. He faced a maximum penalty on each count of 25 years in state prison.

On Monday, July 15, he was found guilty on two felony charges of possession of child pornography and received a three-year sentence plus five years supervision. He must also register for life as a sex offender. The other four charges against him were dismissed — but read into the court record. 

His arrest came after a search warrant was executed for his home on June 28, 2023, according to court documents, and he was arrested a short time later. Numerous electronic devices were seized. Wurtzbacher’s bond was set at $50,000 by a judge shortly after his arrest in 2023.

Meanwhile, a 29-year-old Monroe man made his first appearance in Green County Circuit Court on Monday after being charged with a felony count of possession of child pornography. His online activity was referred to authorities in the form of a ‘cybertip’ at the national center.

According to the criminal complaint against him, the defendant, Draven Lewis, was charged after he allegedly downloaded an image of what police said was clearly an underage girl. He was using what is known as Discord, a file sharing and social media site, to load the image.

After receiving the tip from the state Department of Criminal Investigation — alerted to the case by the NCMEC — authorities were able secure a search warrant for the suspect’s internet and Discord online activity, where additional images of child pornography were allegedly found. Some of the material was generated using Artificial Intelligence of some kind, police said.

“The AI generated child sexual abuse material depicted above is that that appears to be of an actual child and if one was standing at a distance greater tha(n) a few feet would be unable to tell the difference between the AI generated version and an actual photograph,” said the criminal complaint.

Bond for Lewis was set at $2,000 before Green County Circuit Judge Jane Bucher. He also was ordered to stay away from the Internet and internet-enabled devices, have no contact with people under 18; and not to leave the state without permission from the court.

His next court date is set for 8:30 a.m. July 22 before Green County Circuit Judge Faun Phillipson.