Guilty Plea Expected for Former Lutheran Official in Child Porn Case

By Mike Johnson
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
March 8, 2012

http://www.jsonline.com/news/waukesha/guilty-plea-expected-for-former-lutheran-official-in-child-porn-case-sf4g59p-141922113.html

A former Wisconsin Evangelical Lutheran Synod official is expected to enter a guilty plea Friday to possession of child pornography.

Joel W. Hochmuth was scheduled for a jury trial next week, but his attorney, Paul Bucher, said during a court hearing Thursday that a plea agreement had been reached.

Hochmuth, who was the communications director for the synod, was charged in November with three counts of possession of child pornography.

Under the terms of the agreement, Hochmuth would plead guilty to one count and two counts would be dismissed but considered when Hochmuth is sentenced, Bucher said.

Hochmuth, 52, of Waukesha, was fired by the synod one day after the charges were filed against him in Waukesha County Circuit Court.

Hochmuth is accused of using the Internet to download images of boys engaged in sexual acts with other youths and men, according to the criminal complaint.

Investigators found several hundred images on his home computer and 310 photographs and 38 videos on a thumb drive at his WELS office in Wauwatosa, the complaint says.

Hochmuth denied downloading any explicit material while at work, or creating his own pornography, the complaint states.

According to the complaint, Hochmuth told investigators that he had been "struggling with an addiction to viewing pornographic photos and videos of young boys in sexually explicit poses," and that he had gone to counseling after his wife caught him viewing them.

He was investigated by the FBI Cyber Crimes Task Force after an undercover agent identified a residence in Waukesha that was distributing child pornography, according to the complaint. Hochmuth was using a software program that allows individuals to connect to each other's computers and browse and download files as well as chat online, according to the complaint.

Hochmuth faces up to 15 years in prison and 10 years of extended supervision if he is convicted.