Franklin Man Accused Of Possessing Child Porn Pleads Not Guilty

FRANKLIN, WI — A Franklin man pleaded not guilty to possession of child pornography charges in Milwaukee County Court on Wednesday, online court records show.

Curtis L. Schmitt, 38, of Franklin, was charged with three counts of possession of child pornography in January in Milwaukee County Court. A criminal complaint alleges he saved images of apparent child pornography.

Schmitt, who is listed as the District 1 chair of the Wisconsin Board of Veterans Affairs, was removed from two other volunteer board positions in the City of Franklin — the Franklin Finance Committee and the Franklin Community Development Authority — in February.

If convicted, Schmitt faces the possibility of up to 75 years imprisonment and up to $300,000 in fines.

Investigators say they found images of apparent child pornography in a Dropbox account that Schmitt told them he owned, according to a criminal complaint. The complaint claims Schmitt admitted to receiving nude photos through Snapchat, and that at times some of them appeared to be child pornography.

Schmitt said he came across child pornography on the platform "a lot and its [sic] all the time," the complaint said.

Schmitt claimed he downloaded the child pornography from Snapchat and then uploaded it to Dropbox in order to report the images, according to the complaint.

When an investigator confronted Schmitt with the three images uncovered in the digital file folder, Schmitt said the people depicted appeared to be 4-8 years old, and that the images appeared to be child pornography, but he said he did not remember the specific photos, according to the criminal complaint.