MONROE - A Brodhead man charged with four felony counts of possessing child pornography will face trial, a Green County judge ruled Tuesday.
Ahreen Spellman, 32, appeared in Green County Circuit Court for a preliminary hearing on four Class D felony counts of possession of child porn.
At the hearing, District Attorney Gary Luhman called on the testimony of a Department of Justice special agent who had investigated Spellman's case.
The agent, who works for a division that investigates internet crimes against children, said he had been notified in early 2015 of an IP address in Brodhead that had been used to download video files depicting child pornography from a BitTorrent file-sharing system.
The agent executed a search warrant on May 11, 2015 at the residence where the IP address was located. A computer was found containing 13 videos of child pornography, belonging to Spellman, a resident of the dwelling.
The agent viewed four of the videos and determined they depicted underage children performing sex acts.
Spellman initially denied possessing child porn, the agent testified. But in an interview with another agent, Spellman not only claimed ownership of the computer that downloaded the videos, but said he had used that computer to view child porn.
Spellman's attorney, Stephen Mays, argued that the agent could not be certain when Spellman had obtained the computer and that the files could have existed on the computer without Spellman's knowledge. Furthermore, Mays said, the nature of files shared on BitTorrent could have allowed Spellman to have downloaded an innocuous file that concealed illegal material within a compressed file and opened the offending images unintentionally.
Green County Circuit Judge James Beer said he only required a reasonable inference that Spellman could have committed the crimes in question and bound him over for trial.
Spellman will next appear in court for an arraignment on June 13.
Spellman's charges each carry a maximum possible sentence of 15 years in prison, or a $100,000 fine.
Ahreen Spellman, 32, appeared in Green County Circuit Court for a preliminary hearing on four Class D felony counts of possession of child porn.
At the hearing, District Attorney Gary Luhman called on the testimony of a Department of Justice special agent who had investigated Spellman's case.
The agent, who works for a division that investigates internet crimes against children, said he had been notified in early 2015 of an IP address in Brodhead that had been used to download video files depicting child pornography from a BitTorrent file-sharing system.
The agent executed a search warrant on May 11, 2015 at the residence where the IP address was located. A computer was found containing 13 videos of child pornography, belonging to Spellman, a resident of the dwelling.
The agent viewed four of the videos and determined they depicted underage children performing sex acts.
Spellman initially denied possessing child porn, the agent testified. But in an interview with another agent, Spellman not only claimed ownership of the computer that downloaded the videos, but said he had used that computer to view child porn.
Spellman's attorney, Stephen Mays, argued that the agent could not be certain when Spellman had obtained the computer and that the files could have existed on the computer without Spellman's knowledge. Furthermore, Mays said, the nature of files shared on BitTorrent could have allowed Spellman to have downloaded an innocuous file that concealed illegal material within a compressed file and opened the offending images unintentionally.
Green County Circuit Judge James Beer said he only required a reasonable inference that Spellman could have committed the crimes in question and bound him over for trial.
Spellman will next appear in court for an arraignment on June 13.
Spellman's charges each carry a maximum possible sentence of 15 years in prison, or a $100,000 fine.