The defense attorney for a former Oconto Falls doctor accused of producing, transporting and possessing child pornography said videos taken by the defendant documented medical examinations, not child sexual abuse.
Isaias Cupino, 66, is standing trial on eight federal child pornography-related crimes: five counts of production of child pornography, two counts of possession of child pornography and one count of transportation of child pornography. Cupino’s trial began April 20 in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Wisconsin in Green Bay.
Cupino previously appeared on Prevea Health’s website as a family medicine physician. Following the charges, the company said Cupino was no longer working for them.
During opening statements, Assistant U.S. Attorney Alexander Duros told jurors evidence presented over the four-day trial would prove that Cupino sexualized, used and sexually exploited a child for over a year.
Defense attorney Alf Langan said the jurors would see, with the full context of the government’s evidence, that “this is basically a giant colossal misunderstanding.” The jury will find that the contested images and videos are not child pornography, Langan said.
Cupino’s case was initiated when Oconto Falls Police Detective Jamie Kuhn was assigned to investigate a cyber tip from the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children. Kuhn received the tip Aug. 26, 2025, and it stated videos containing child sexual abuse material had been uploaded to Facebook from an Oconto Falls IP address, Duros said in his opening statement.
Believing there was a “live victim,” or a child currently in danger, Kuhn executed a search warrant at Cupino’s home the same day she received the tip, Duros said. At the home, investigators found Cupino and the child depicted in the cyber tip video.
In a preliminary search of Cupino’s iPhone, Duros said, Kuhn found the video that prompted the cyber tip. Ten devices were seized and sent to the Wisconsin Department of Justice’s Division of Criminal Investigation. Additional videos containing child sexual abuse material were located on the devices, Duros said.
The production charges Cupino faces relate to seven specific video or image files, all of the victim from the cyber tip. Part of the jury’s responsibility will be determining whether each file constitutes child pornography.
One of the possession charges Cupino faces relates to a second victim. Four images of a female child, which the government argues depict child sexual abuse material, were located on a hard drive owned by Cupino. Duros said the images were determined to have been created in 2004 or 2005.
Government argues Cupino had sexual intent
One of the questions jurors will have to ask themselves when determining whether the contested files are child pornography is what Cupino’s intent was, Duros said. The government will present additional videos and photos that do not themselves constitute a crime, Duros said, but will show Cupino had sexual intent in creating the contested files.
Duros said those images and videos include videos of the victim interacting with a “life-size sophisticated sex doll” that Cupino owned. Duros said the videos depict the victim kissing and touching the doll and being introduced to it by Cupino, actions Duros said were meant to lower the child’s guard.
Duros said the video that prompted the cyber tip had been uploaded to Facebook because Cupino was using a Facebook account as a way to store videos he was taking of the victim. Cupino had his own Facebook account and also had one under the name of the child, Duros said.
The cyber tip video was uploaded to the Facebook page in the child’s name, which could only be seen by Cupino’s personal account, Duros said, making it a way for Cupino to store and access the videos he took.
Duros said the government plans to call six witnesses during the trial:
Defense says doctors will testify to use of ‘medical technique’
Cupino’s case “is not as obvious as the government wants you to think it is,” Langan told the jury. While the videos they will be shown may be “somewhat disturbing” to them, Langan said, context will show they don’t constitute child pornography.
Cupino “wanted to create a legacy” for the child by recording everything in his childhood, Langan said. To do that, Langan said Cupino “took pictures all the time” and “videotaped everything.”
Langan said the government’s plan to have a witness testify to the necessity of medical examinations for the child was a “red herring.” Whether or not they were necessary is an opinion, Langan said, and the true question is whether they were actual examinations.
Langan said the defense will call doctors to testify that Cupino was using “normal, acceptable medical technique” in the contested video files.
Langan also suggested cultural differences may provide context that shows Cupino’s intentions weren’t sexual. Cupino lived in the Philippines until his 30s and “that culture is very different” from American culture, Langan said.
The attorney said he was confident that the additional context the defense provides will lead the jury to find the files do not constitute child pornography and therefore find his client not guilty on all charges.
Cupino’s trial is scheduled to last through April 23.
Vivian Barrett is the public safety reporter for the Green Bay Press-Gazette. You can reach her at vmbarrett@usatodayco.com or (920) 431-8314.
This article originally appeared on Green Bay Press-Gazette: Defense says Oconto doctor was recording medical exams, not child porn
Reporting by Vivian Barrett, Green Bay Press-Gazette / Green Bay Press-Gazette
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