Man charged with possession of child porn

WEYAUWEGA — 71-year-old Richard A. France is facing multiple felony charges after investigators allegedly discovered thousands of illicit images on his computer following a “cyber tip” from technology monitors.
He was arrested on March 3, 2026, following a search of his residence in the Town of Weyauwega. He has been charged with three counts of possession of child pornography, according to a criminal complaint filed Thursday in Waupaca County Circuit Court.
The investigation began when the Wisconsin Internet Crimes Against Children (ICAC) taskforce received alerts from the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children. The reports indicated that Microsoft’s “Bing Image” search tool had flagged uploads of child pornography associated with an IP address at France’s Desert Road residence.
Detective Sergeant Steven Kincaid of the Waupaca County Sheriff’s Office noted in the complaint that the flagged images depicted prepubescent females in sexually explicit poses. One image featured a watermark for “Lolita Dreams,” a known child exploitation site.
On February 3, 2026, authorities executed a “knock and announce” search warrant at the France home. According to court documents, France’s wife, Lynda, answered the door and was “startled and amused,” remarking that she had just been reading a book featuring a similar police raid.
During an interview with investigators, Richard France reportedly admitted to viewing adult pornography but initially denied searching for child sexual assault material. However, Detective Sergeant Kincaid observed France stutter when asked about using the Bing search engine.
France eventually consented to a search of his digital devices, including a router, a Samsung Galaxy smartphone, and an HP ProBook laptop. He provided investigators with the necessary passwords and PINs to access the hardware.
Upon booting the laptop, investigators found the Windows operating system opened directly to a “Downloads” folder. Inside, Kincaid allegedly observed 3,764 files consisting of erotica and sexually explicit images of females ranging from prepubescent children to adults. Several images depicted nude children in various poses, matching the style of the material originally flagged by Microsoft.
Each count of possession of child pornography carries a potential penalty of up to 25 years in prison and a $100,000 fine. Because France is over the age of 18, state law mandates a $500 surcharge for every image associated with the crime and a minimum of three years of initial confinement upon conviction.
France was booked into the Waupaca County Jail without incident. Officials stated that the investigation remains ongoing as they work to identify the images and determine if there are any unknown victims.