By Shereen Siewert
A 28-year-old Marshfield truck driver arrested after a report from the United Kingdom National Crime Agency alerted local police about suspected sexual assaults of a child was formally arraigned Wednesday in Marathon Count Circuit Court on multiple felony charges.
Theodore Trahern faces 10 counts of possessing child pornography and one count of failing to comply with an officer. The charges were filed April 8 in Marathon County Circuit Court.
During an initial appearance, Circuit Judge Scott Corbett set a cash bond of $100,000 and prohibited Trahern from having any contact with minors.
The reports that prompted the arrest, forwarded to the Marathon County Sheriff’s Department, related to conversations in which the suspect allegedly spoke about conducting sexual acts on a 6-year-old child.
Investigators seized a cell phone and discovered dozens of images of suspected child pornography with victims ranging in age from preschool to about 12 years of age, according to court documents.
Trahern has denied committing any sexual assault but admitted exchanging child pornography on Kik Messenger and Wikr, both messaging platforms. While Trahern allegedly said he was responsible for the chats, he described the conversations as “fantasy” and denied there being any truth behind them, court documents state.
Trahern, who pleaded not guilty on Wednesday, remains behind bars. A pretrial conference is set for July.
