Wausau Man Sentenced for Possession of Child Pornography

Wednesday, May 29th, 2024 -- 10:01 AM

(Mike Leischner, WSAU) A Wausau man facing 11 charges related to child pornography was sentenced in Marathon County Court on Tuesday.

According to Mike Leischner with WSAU, court documents say Sam Shepler is accused of saving the images last spring. Google flagged them and turned an IP address and user name over to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, who tied the information to Shepler.

Wausau Police then searched his home and found additional images. Shepler was found guilty of sexual assault of a child back in 2012 and served time in the Marathon County Jail with Huber privileges.

He was still on probation at the time of his arrest. During his court appearance on Tuesday, he was found guilty of, due to a no contest plea, three counts of possession of child pornography.

Several other charges were dismissed and read in. He was sentenced to five years in state prison and five years of extended supervision. He must also register as sex offender.

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