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Spellman competent to stand trial for child porn
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Spellman
MONROE - A Brodhead man charged with four felony counts of child porn was declared mentally competent to stand trial.

Ahreen Spellman, 33, was arrested in May after a state investigator found four sexually explicit video files involving prepubescent girls on his computer.

Spellman appeared in Green County Circuit Court Wednesday to determine whether he was mentally capable of comprehending the charges and the legal process.

With little deliberation, Green County Judge James Beer quickly declared Spellman competent based on reports from Spellman's counselors.

Spellman's actions were discovered as part of a wider investigation of peer-to-peer file sharing networks by the Wisconsin Department of Justice's Internet Crimes Against Children Unit.

A special agent in the unit found an IP address being used to download child porn videos from a peer-to-peer network. The agent traced the IP address to a laptop owned by Spellman.

Spellman will next appear in court on Feb. 23 for a pre-trial conference.