Portage County Man Pleads Not Guilty to Possession of Child Pornography

Tuesday, November 12th, 2024 -- 2:00 PM

(Mike Leischner, WSAU) A Portage County man has pled not guilty to five counts related to the possession of child pornography and one count of child exploitation.

According to Mike Leischner with WSAU, Hayden Witzel-Marr entered the plea on Monday after waiving his right to a preliminary hearing. A judge then bound him over for trial.

He was arrested in late August after police in Plover received a tip from the Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force regarding an IP address that may be connected to a child porn ring

They were able to pinpoint the residence and obtained a search warrant. Officers say the suspect, later identified as Witzel-Marr, was home at the time and admitted to receiving and distributing images of children between the ages of 6-12.

He was immediately arrested and booked into the Portage County Jail for five counts each of possession of child pornography and sexual exploration of a minor.

He has since been released and is staying with family after posting a $2,500 cash bond. Conditions of his release include no access to the internet or any gaming devices and no contact with anyone under 18 except family members.

No trial dates have been set. The 21-year-old returns to court on January 13th for a pretrial conference. A scheduling conference has also been penciled in for late February.

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