MADISON – Former Outagamie County Human Resources Director Adam Westbrook will spend the next decade in prison for sending a Racine County deputy child pornography, a crime Westbrook maintains he is innocent of.
Westbrook pleaded guilty to a federal charge of distributing child pornography in September 2024. He has tried twice to withdraw that plea, primarily on the basis that he maintains his innocence.
His attempts to withdraw his plea were denied and Westbrook was sentenced May 15 in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Wisconsin in Madison.
The charge relates to a video Westbrook sent former Racine County Deputy Preston Kite of a child at a Lake Delton hotel. According to discussion at sentencing, the video captured the child “frolicking” naked on a bed. The video did not depict any kind of sex act, but U.S. District Court Judge James Peterson determined it depicted the lascivious exhibition of the child’s genitals.
The definition of lascivious exhibition and whether it applies to the charged video has been a primary point of contention throughout the case. Westbrook, in previous motions and at his sentencing, maintains that he had no sexual intent in taking or sending the video, which is part of what a jury would have been able to consider in determining if the video constituted child pornography.
In court, Westbrook likened the charged video to videos parents take of a child running around their home naked or photos he has seen new mothers post of their children in the bath. When he recorded it, Westbrook said, it was no different than the other times he recorded the child in the nude and sent it to family members.
Peterson rejected that assertion. The judge, who has viewed images from the video, said that it clearly depicted lascivious exhibition of the child’s genitals, regardless of intent. He said he found it hard to believe anyone could take that video and not recognize that it was wrong.
Peterson said the video was different than the kinds of videos Westbrook compared it to. “I think you knew that these were different,” Peterson told Westbrook.
Peterson found there to be two major mitigating factors in Westbrook’s case: there was no evidence of any form of sexual contact between Westbrook and any children, and that Westbrook was sexually abused as a child. Though Peterson said Westbrook’s experience mitigated his culpability, the judge said Westbrook’s risk of danger is high.
Peterson sentenced Westbrook to 10 years in prison and a 20-year period of supervised release.
Kite pleaded guilty in 2024 to four counts of possession of child pornography, one count of exposing genitals to a child and one count of conspiracy to engage in bestiality. He also pleaded no contest to 10 counts of child sexual exploitation and five counts of possession of child pornography. Kite was sentenced to a total of 55 years in prison followed by 35 years on extended supervision.
Evidence Westbrook participated in child pornography sharing group chat
Before discussing the actual sentencing, the court held an evidentiary hearing on an allegation from the government that Westbrook was involved in a Telegram group chat called “Dads and Uncles” that was used to share child pornography. Westbrook denies the allegation.
The allegation stems from an investigation started in the United Kingdom. According to the prosecution, UK law enforcement contacted U.S. investigators after an undercover officer in the Telegram chat saw a message stating a user with the name “Tim Drake” was Adam Westbrook and sharing Westbrook’s address.
“Tim Drake” had shared a photo, which was also used for his profile picture, that depicted the same child as in the Lake Delton hotel video. The photo appeared to be from a video taken in Westbrook’s bathroom.
Westbrook and his attorney, Alexander Vlisides, concede that the image was of the child in Westbrook’s bathroom, but said the photo was altered by someone else to include a sign saying “Dads and Uncles” to gain entry to the group under a false identity. Westbrook maintains he was not the user behind “Tim Drake.”
Government attorneys Elizabeth Altman and Louis Gliznak provided additional evidence they said linked the account to Westbrook, including similarities in the usernames connected to the “Tim Drake” account and Westbrook’s verified Snapchat account.
Vlisides said the government presented “such a lack of precise, reliable evidence” that it couldn’t be determined whether Westbrook was “Tim Drake.” The image, which appeared to be a screenshot of a video, couldn’t even be forensically examined, Vlisides said. Additionally, there was no proof of the initial post allegedly shared by “Tim Drake” saying he was Adam Westbrook with Westbrook’s address, just a message from a different user saying it was posted, Vlisides said.
The defense suggested the account could have been run by Kite, who was known to use Telegram to share child pornography and who could have been sent a video by Westbrook like the one screenshotted.
Peterson said “it really seems most probable” that Westbrook was behind the account. He agreed with the connections the prosecution made between the username and Westbrook’s personal usernames, said he saw no indication the image had been altered and said Kite’s criminal history didn’t reflect him to be a “careful offender” who would take the lengths to disguise his crimes under Westbrook’s identity.
Peterson found the majority of evidence pointed to Westbrook being involved with the group, making it a fact he could consider when it came to sentencing.
‘I don’t think you’re being honest with yourself’
Westbrook gave a lengthy statement to the court in which he explained the history of his relationship with Kite, the history of his relationship with the victim, his own childhood, and detailed his thoughts and actions before and after his arrest.
Westbrook stated he and Kite had been friends for years and that the vast majority of their relationship was not sexual in any way. He said they sometimes discussed sexual topics in a friendly way, like discussing what or who they were attracted to.
The prosecution said messages between Westbrook and Kite showed Westbrook knew Kite was attracted to young children. Westbrook said that isn’t true.
Westbrook said he knew Kite was attracted to younger or younger-looking adults, between 18 and 22, and that he knew Kite was interested in minors around 16 and 17 years old. Westbrook said he knows he should have done more when it came to Kite’s admitted attraction to teens, but said that fact never led him to believe Kite was attracted to young children.
Kite’s attraction to teenagers never caused Westbrook to think he shouldn’t send photos of the child to Kite. Westbrook said he didn’t see a connection between a person attracted to teens and a person attracted to toddlers.
Westbrook also said that due to autism and childhood sexual abuse, he doesn’t understand the “societal norms and morality” around sex that most people do. He said he thought recording the child naked and sending it to friends and family was normal.
Peterson said Westbrook’s autism diagnosis came from a psychological evaluation done for the case, which only lasted three hours. He thought the psychologist’s report lacked corroboration for the diagnosis and said “I do not find that credible at all.”
Westbrook also wrote a letter to the court ahead of sentencing, which supplemented what he said in his in-court statement. Peterson said the letter was “a very curious mix of self-reflection and a significant amount of self-deception.”
“I don’t think you’re being honest with yourself,” the judge said.
Peterson cautioned Westbrook that it would be “dangerous” to move forward thinking the psychologist’s autism diagnosis explains Westbrook’s criminal behavior. The judge implored Westbrook to look deeper into his past trauma and how that may have contributed to harmful sexual compulsions.
To ensure Westbrook could address those issues, Peterson ordered a lengthy period of supervised release. After serving 10 years in prison, Westbrook will be supervised for 20 years.
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 Appleton Post-Crescent: Former Outagamie HR director gets 10 years for child pornography conviction
Reporting by Vivian Barrett, Green Bay Press-Gazette / Appleton Post-Crescent
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
