Over the past several months the Prairie du Chien Police Department has been involved in an ongoing Possession of Child Pornography investigation which culminated in an arrest on November 27, 2023.
During the course of this investigation the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC) received information from Google about the possible uploading of child pornography from a Google account. NCMEC acts as a national clearinghouse for reports from providers and then forwards the information as CyberTips to law enforcement authorities in the appropriate jurisdiction as identified by NCMEC.
After receiving the CyberTip, the Prairie du Chien Police Department and Wisconsin Department of Justice issued several subpoenas and warrants for internet service providers, email providers and other internet related data.
Information received from the issuance of those documents resulted in identifying the address of 1202 East Iowa Street in Prairie du Chien as being the likely source of the child pornography upload.
A search warrant was granted by Crawford County Circuit Court Judge Lynn Rider. Officers with the Prairie du Chien Police Department and an analyst with the Wisconsin Department of Justice served that search warrant on November 27, 2023. Officers entered the home and found the lone male occupant to be actively chatting in an online chat room purporting to be a 12-year-old female. This male was identified as James M. McBee, age 63. Mr. McBee was arrested and taken to the police department for questioning. During the questioning at the police department, Mr. McBee admitted to receiving two images of child pornography, uploading the same images and saving them to his personal computer.
During the search of the home, multiple electronic devices were taken as evidence. With the assistance of the Wisconsin Department of Justice’s forensic analyst on scene, many of these items were able to be investigated and their data viewed in real time at the scene. Based on the amount of evidence taken during the search, this investigation remains ongoing and further charges are possible.
Mr. McBee was booked into the Crawford County jail on two counts of Possession of Child Pornography.
“Investigations like this are a reminder that parents must take an active role in monitoring their children’s online activity. It is also a reminder of the reprehensible conduct that exists in this world. Our staff member that led this investigation partnered with outside entities to ensure that those that commit these crimes are held accountable. There is no more important victim of crime than a child. Many times, the children that are victimized in cases such as this never get to confront these suspects. It is the job of law enforcement to be the confronters and arrange the court date with the hope that the perpetrators are held responsible. These investigations are long and require months of issuances and returns of subpoenas and warrants. Detectives take on these tasks with little thanks other than knowing a child victim of crime is not forgotten.” – Chief of Police, Kyle Teynor
“The filing of a criminal charge is merely an accusation and the accused is presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt.”