Franklin Man Facing Possession Of Child Pornography Charges

FRANKLIN, WI — A Franklin man is facing possession of child pornography charges in Milwaukee County Court, online court records show.

Curtis L Schmitt, Jr, 38, of Candlestick Lane, was charged with three counts of possession of child pornography. Charges were filed Sunday, online records showed. Schmitt is listed online as the Board Chair and representative for the 1st District of the Wisconsin Department of Veterans Affairs, CBS58 first reported.

Schmitt's biography on the VA board website also says he recently accepted a mayoral appointment to the Finance Committee for the City of Franklin. According to the city's website, Schmitt's term ends on April 30.

Schmitt was in custody on Saturday, online records said. A preliminary hearing has been scheduled for Feb. 23.

If convicted, Schmitt may be fined not more than $100,000 or imprisoned for not more than 25 years for each of the three charges.

According to the criminal complaint, a Department of Justice criminal investigator said the DOJ was forwarded a tip about apparent child pornography uploaded to an online file hosting service account Schmitt admitted to owning.

Three files from the account that were reviewed by an agent were consistent with child pornography, the complaint said. Schmitt said he receives a lot of nude photos on his Snapchat account, and that he always asks for people's ages, but that he sometimes received pictures of child pornography, the complaint said.

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

According to the criminal complaint, Schmitt said he sometimes downloaded the child pornography from Snapchat to his phone and then uploaded it to the file hosting account, but he claimed the purpose was to report it to Snapchat.

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