Criminal Justice

Juvenile court judge charged with possession of child pornography faces additional charges

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Judge Brett Blomme mug shot

Judge Brett Blomme of Milwaukee County, Wisconsin. Mug shot from the Dane County Sheriff’s Office in Wisconsin.

A juvenile court judge who was charged with possession of child pornography in Wisconsin will now face additional federal charges.

Judge Brett Blomme, 40, of Cottage Grove, Wisconsin, who was assigned to the children’s court in Milwaukee County, was charged with two counts of distributing a visual depiction of a minor engaging in sexually explicit conduct in an indictment returned Wednesday by a federal grand jury.

According to a May 12 statement from Timothy M. O’Shea, the acting United States attorney for the Western District of Wisconsin, the indictment alleges that Blomme sent a file containing an image of child pornography to another user of the Kik Messenger app Oct. 30 and Nov. 1.

The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel and Wisconsin State Journal have coverage.

The federal charges are a result of an investigation by the Wisconsin Department of Justice’s criminal investigation division. If convicted, Blomme faces a mandatory minimum penalty of five years and a maximum penalty of 20 years in federal prison for each count.

In March, Blomme was charged with seven counts of possession of child pornography in the Dane County Circuit Court as a result of the same investigation. Last month, he pleaded not guilty to all counts, according to the Wisconsin State Journal.

According to the criminal complaint in the case, the Wisconsin Department of Justice received a tip from the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children indicating that Kik Messenger user “dommasterbb” had uploaded images and videos depicting the sexual abuse of toddlers and boys on 27 separate occasions in October and November. The account was allegedly registered using the email address [email protected].

Blomme, who was elected in April 2020, has been suspended from his judicial duties without pay.

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