Bail is set at $50,000 cash for a 50-year-old rural Maribel man facing several charges including possession of child pornography, sex offender violation.
Smedley D. Butler is also charged with felony possession of a firearm.
Detectives with the Manitowoc County Sheriff’s Office received a cyber tip from the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, alerting them to suspicious online activity involving an individual (Butler) living in Manitowoc County.
An investigation was initiated which led them to Butler, a current sex offender due to a previous conviction of possession of child pornography in Manitowoc County from 2009, and he was taken into custody last Friday.
Sheriff Dan Hartwig says this case remains under investigation and no further information will be released at this time. Conditions of bail are that Butler does not use any internet-enabled devices, has no unsupervised contact with anyone under the age of 18, and does not possess a firearm.
He remains in The County Jail with his initial appearance scheduled for December 28th at 8:30.
