Former Neenah police officer pleads not guilty to child pornography possession
Owen Halls, 22, of Kaukauna, had been employed by the Neenah Police Department for one year before he was fired in March as a result of the child pornography accusations. Halls was a probationary police officer, and his new-officer probationary period would have continued until November, Neenah Police Chief Aaron Olson said.
At Halls' arraignment, the court set a pre-trial conference date for 9:30 a.m. Nov. 7 and a two-day jury trial for Nov. 20-21.
Halls is out of jail on a $20,000 cash bond.
The following information is from a criminal complaint filed in Outagamie County Circuit Court:
In September 2024, an officer from the Kaukauna Police Department reviewed a digital CyberTip from the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children regarding two videos depicting child pornography that were uploaded June 10, 2024, onto the messaging application Kik.
Through warrants and subpoenas, the officer was able to connect the email address linked to the CyberTip to an address in Kaukauna.
Four people, including Halls, lived at the address at the time.
Police "later made contact" with Halls, the complaint says. It does not specify when that meeting occurred.
During the conversation, Halls admitted to having an account for messaging applications Telegram and Kik, for "pictures of females that are not (his) girlfriend," the complaint says.
Halls recognized the Internet Crimes Against Children insignia on one of the officer's belongings, and asked if they were speaking to him about something "ICAC related," the complaint states.
Halls told the officers, "I'm sure you guys are aware of what's been going on." When asked to clarify, Halls explained a website exists that includes links to different pornographic content, and sometimes the links contain people who are underage.
Halls told officers he had in the past accidentally stumbled upon child sexual abuse material online while searching other types of pornography, but when that happens he would "close out of it and move on." He said he "probably should" report it but never has.
When an officer informed Halls that they had seen content from his account "of early teenagers under the age of 18 performing sex acts," Halls nodded affirmatively and said "mmhmm," the complaint states.
Under Wisconsin law, each possession of child pornography count carries a minimum sentence of three years in prison. The maximum term of imprisonment for each count is 15 years in prison and 10 years of extended supervision.
Halls could also be fined up to $100,000 on each count.
In a March news release announcing Halls' firing from the department, Olson said the police department is additionally following processes to have Halls decertified as a Wisconsin Law Enforcement Officer by the Law Enforcement Standards Board.
Contact Kelli Arseneau at 920-213-3721 or karseneau@gannett.com. Follow her on X, formerly Twitter, at @ArseneauKelli.
This article originally appeared on Appleton Post-Crescent: Former Neenah police officer pleads not guilty to child pornography charges
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