17-year-old Brandon Zittlow of Denmark has been charged with 10 counts of child pornography.
On November 10, 2016 Dropbox, an online storage site, contacted the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children about sexually-explicit videos uploaded by an account under Zittlow's name.
According to a criminal complaint, these videos involved children who hadn't reached puberty.
The National Center for Missing and Exploited Children then contacted the Brown County Sheriff's Office.
Zittlow was taken into custody Wednesday after investigators questioned him at Denmark High School, where he is a senior.
According to the complaint, Zittlow admitted to looking at images of girls as young as 10 years old and trading photos of naked girls on social media apps.
Investigators say they found 10 child pornography videos on his smart phone.
According to investigators, some of the children appear to be under the age of 12.
"I was informed one of our students was taken into custody yesterday which had to do with the misuse of technology," Denmark School District Administrator Tony Klaubauf on Thursday, January 5.
Klaubauf says that he has become increasingly distraught as he's learned of the child pornography charges Zittlow is facing.
"We were informed none of the allegations involve any activity while the student was at school or involve any other students at Denmark. The School District of Denmark will monitor this situation to assure the safety of our students,” Klaubauf said.
Zittlow, who turns 18 next week, made his first appearance in adult court Thursday afternoon.
In the court documents, Zittlow told investigators, "I didn't think it was illegal for me to have possession of it, since I thought when you were 18 it was illegal."
The state asked the court to hold him on a $15,000 cash bond, but the court commissioner felt that was too high. Bail has been set at $5,000 cash.
Zittlow has also been barred from using any devices that can access the internet.
"At this juncture of the District’s ongoing investigation, we are pleased to report that there is no evidence suggesting that any misconduct related to the investigation occurred on school property, during school hours, or that any other students from the District were involved," Klaubauf stated in an updated press release on Friday, January 6.
"The District continues to investigate and will provide any updates, and take further action if necessary, to ensure the safety and security of all students in the District," Klaubauf said.
You can read Klabuaf's entire statement by clicking on the image below.
