Kenosha man arrested, charged with sexual exploitation of a child and 10 counts of possession of child pornography – bail set at $100,000

*Graphic depictions of sexual crimes against children*

A Kenosha man faces a minimum sentence of eight years and a maximum sentence of 290 years in a Wisconsin prison if convicted of all the sex offenses against him. Ryan St. John, 46, of Kenosha was arraigned yesterday on one count of “sexual exploitation of a child” and 10 counts of “possession of child pornography.” The former count carries a minimum sentence of five years and a maximum sentence of 40 years. Possession of child pornography carries a mandatory minimum sentence of three years, but Wisconsin law allows judges to hand down multiple convictions concurrently rather than consecutively. That means someone could be sentenced to three years in prison. in total for the conviction of 1,000 cases of “possession of child pornography.” Some see this as a loophole, and many judges use it.

According to the criminal complaint:

Detective Deates of the Kenosha Police Department reported that he was contacted by Investigator Anthony LaCombe of the Racine County Sheriff’s Office in connection with an investigation he was conducting on the eDonkey network for offenders distributing child pornography. Investigator LaCombe provided Detective Deates with information about his investigation that led to an IP address.

Investigator LaCombe determined that using a computer running P2P software, a direct connection was established to a device with the same IP address, which he describes as the suspect device. On Monday, March 25, 2024, Investigator LaCombe downloaded a file in whole or in part from the suspect device with the IP address.

Investigator LaCombe reviewed the above-mentioned video. He obtained a partial download of the 54-second video in color and with sound. The video shows a completely nude adult male and a young child between the ages of 4 and 6. It appeared as if the adult was having sexual intercourse with the child.

Investigator LaCombe obtained a subpoena for the IP address of the suspected device. The response to the subpoena revealed that the IP address was assigned to defendant Ryan St. John, located at 8549 20th Avenue in the City of Kenosha.

Since the target address was in Kenosha, Investigator LaCombe then turned his investigative materials over to Detective Deates, who viewed the video described above and confirmed that it contained child pornography.

Detective Deates reported that based on this information, a search warrant was issued for 8549 20th Avenue in Kenosha. Officers executed the warrant on May 30, 2024. Two adults and St. John were present at the residence. The two adults spoke with Detective Deates while St. John stated he did not wish to speak with officers further. K9 Iris, who is specially trained to detect electronic storage devices, assisted with the search.

Detective Deates reported that several electronic devices were seized as part of the search warrant. A small marijuana plantation was also discovered in the basement. A computer found was attributed to St. John. Prosecutors spoke with Detective Deates, who stated that St. John accessed that computer by providing the password to the computer. Detective Deates also reported that an adult told officers that that particular computer was used by St. John.

Officer Sheskey analyzed the hard drive of St. John’s computer. Officer Sheskey told Detective Deates that he found approximately 39,000 files of child pornography on the hard drive. He gave Detective Deates ten files to describe. Officer Sheskey also noted that the username on the computer was “Ryan St John.”

Detective Deates determined that all of the above files legally constitute child pornography. Detective Deates also determined that Officer Sheskey has only examined approximately 5% of the total data to be examined in this matter. On June 12, 2024, officers arrested the defendant at his residence without incident.

“The Kenosha Police Department would like to thank our partner agencies, the Racine County Sheriff’s Office, Mount Pleasant Police Department and the Wisconsin Department of Justice Division of Criminal Investigations for their assistance in this investigation,” Kenosha police said in a written statement.

St. John, accompanied by attorney David Berman, requested in court today that some of the charges be dismissed due to ambiguous wording. The commissioner denied the request.

Assistant District Attorney Emily Gaertner requested bail of $100,000, citing the seriousness of the charges and the potential for prison time. Attorney Berman requested signature bail.

Kenosha County District Court Commissioner William Michel II joined the prosecution and set St. John’s bail at $100,000. St. John is due back in court on June 20 for a preliminary hearing.