By Shereen Siewert
A 44-year-old Wausau man wanted since March on child pornography charges is being held on a $25,000 cash bond, after a cyber tip from Microsoft led to the discovery of graphic images of children being sexually assaulted on the his computer.
Lee Wilson faces 20 count of possession of child pornography. The charges were filed March 12 in Marathon County Circuit Court, but Wilson was not in custody until earlier this week. During an initial appearance Tuesday, Circuit Judge LaMont Jacobson set the cash bond and set a preliminary hearing date of June 26.
According to the criminal complaint, investigators received a tip on April 30, 2018 regarding a suspicious image uploaded onto a Microsoft server. The image, shared with the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, showed two prepubescent children in sexually explicit positions.
Police traced the IP address connected with the image to a Lincoln Avenue in Wausau, where they seized a computer with two hard drives. Forensic investigators then discovered at least 20 images of prepubescent girls being sexually assaulted, according to the criminal complaint.
A search of Wilson’s web history included search terms such as “little girl pregnant at 5,” “real child rape pictures,” and “childhood nudism,” among others, police said.
Wilson allegedly told police the searches were a mistake and that he was under the influence of Adderall at the time he viewed the images.
Each of the 20 counts carries a maximum penalty of 40 years in prison, which means Wilson faces up to 800 years in the Wisconsin State Prison System if he is convicted on all counts.
A preliminary hearing is set for June 26.
