A Hortonville man is accused of using Facebook to solicit and receive nude photos of juveniles from the United States and Europe.
Jason W. Junek, 41, was arrested following an investigation by Outagamie County Sheriff’s Office in collaboration with the Wisconsin Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force, the sheriff’s office announced Friday, May 18.
Junek was in custody Friday and scheduled to make an initial court appearance that afternoon. He has not been charged as of early Friday afternoon.
Outagamie County Sheriff’s Office requested Junek be charged with sexual exploitation of a child, solicitation of an intimate representation from a minor child and exposing a child to harmful material.
The sheriff’s office was alerted of Junek’s activities via the National Center for Mission and Exploited Children’s CyberTipline program in February.
According to Outagamie County Sheriff’s Sgt. Ryan Carpenter, the investigation found Junek had communicated with girls ages 13 to 16 from Illinois, Texas, Nebraska, Colorado and the United Kingdom. He allegedly used a fake Facebook profile to pose as a 16-year-old boy and did not know the girls he contacted.
“This is another example of the importance of parents knowing what sites [their children are] on and who they’re conversing with,” Carpenter said. “It’s important that these teens and juveniles on the internet physically know the person that they’re conversing with because many times you don’t know who’s on the other end.”
UPDATE: Junek was charged Friday in Outagamie County Circuit Court with 10 felony counts:
- Four counts of sexual exploitation of a child.
- Three counts of exposing a child to harmful material.
- Two counts of attempted sexual exploitation of a child.
- One count of solicitation of an intimate representation from a minor.
He is next scheduled to appear in court for a preliminary hearing before Judge Mark McGinnis on Friday, May 25.