A federal jury convicted a former Oconto Falls doctor of producing, transporting and possessing child pornography after a three-day trial and over 4½ hours of deliberation.
Isaias Cupino, 66, of Oconto Falls, was charged with 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 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.
Seven of the charges referred to seven specific video or image files of one child who was younger than 2 years old at the time of the recordings, according to the indictment. One of the possession charges refers to four images of a female child taken in 2004 or 2005, according to opening statements.
The key question the jury had to answer in the case was whether each contested image met the legal definition of child pornography.
The jury found Cupino guilty of three counts of child-pornography production, one count of transportation of child pornography and one count of possession of child pornography. Those charges referred to four specific images and videos, including two Cupino claimed depicted medical examinations.
Cupino was found guilty of producing four files of child pornography, transporting two of them by uploading them to Facebook and possessing all four on his iPhone.
The jury found Cupino not guilty on two of the child-pornography production counts and one of the possession counts. They determined three of the videos of the first child and the four images of the female child did not constitute child pornography.
Cupino’s trial began April 20 in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Wisconsin in Green Bay. Attorneys presented closing arguments April 23 and the case was handed off to the jury for deliberation around 11 a.m.
About an hour into deliberations, the jury requested to view three of the charged files to ensure they had connected each image to the correct count. They returned a mixed verdict around 3:45 p.m.
Defense attorney Alf Langan said in his closing argument he was confident the jury would find that none of the contested constituted child pornography and therefore find his client not guilty on all counts.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Timothy Funnell said during closing that the evidence showed Cupino had a sexual intent and created the videos for a sexual purpose. Funnell said using their common sense would lead the jury to a guilty verdict on all counts.
What constitutes child pornography?
The federal definition for child pornography refers to the visual depiction of a minor engaged in sexually explicit conduct. Sexually explicit conduct has several legal definitions including the “lascivious exhibition” of the anus, genitals or pubic area.
The prosecution in Cupino’s case relied on the lascivious exhibition definition to prove that the contested images depicted sexually explicit conduct and therefore constituted child pornography.
Just because the anus, genitals or pubic area of a child are visible in a photo or video does not mean that there is a lascivious exhibition of those areas, U.S. District Court Judge William Griesbach explained to the jury ahead of closing arguments. If that was the case, photos mothers take of their child taking a bath would be considered child pornography.
For there to be lascivious exhibition, the depiction must call attention to the anus, genitals or pubic area for the purpose of sexual arousal in the viewer, Griesbach explained.
Jurors were to consider the content of the contested image or video, but could also consider the creator’s intent in determining whether the depiction was created for a sexual purpose.
‘None of this is child pornography’
In closing arguments, Langan said the first question jurors should ask themselves is whether Cupino intended to create the videos and images for his sexual gratification. If they find he didn’t, Langan said, the rest of the elements of the crime “fall apart like a house of cards in the wind.”
As he mentioned in his opening statement, Langan said Cupino was “obsessed with documenting everything” in the child’s life in order to create a digital legacy the child could look back on in the future. Cupino took an average of 15 pictures or videos of the child every day, the vast majority of which were not being questioned, Langan said.
Two of the contested videos were recordings of medical examinations Cupino was conducting on the child, according to the defense. At trial, three doctors agreed the videos depicted “by the book” medical techniques, Langan said.
While it may not have been best or acceptable practice to record the examinations, that didn’t make them child pornography, Langan said.
As for other contested images, Langan said they occurred out of Cupino’s obsession with documenting everything, not out of a sexual intent.
The photos of the second child from the early 2000s were also “totally innocent,” Langan said. They don’t depict a child engaged in sexually explicit conduct, but a child running around and playing naked, which is normal for children, he said.
“None of this is child pornography,” Langan said.
‘The excuses are over’
Cupino testified during his trial. Although the government bears the burden of proof and the defense isn’t required to call any witnesses or prove innocence, Funnell said, if the defendant chooses to testify, jurors “evaluate the credibility of that evidence.”
Funnell asked the jurors to use their common sense and question whether the reasons Cupino gave for creating the videos made sense.
Considering Cupino had thousands of appropriate pictures he took of the child every day, Funnel asked, “Why do you need naked pictures?” If Cupino was seeking to create a legacy for the child to look back on, these wouldn’t be images the child would be interested in seeing, Funnel said.
“He didn’t want to keep this for [the child],” Funnell said. “He wanted to keep this for himself.”
As for the two videos the defense says were medical examinations, Funnell said doctors testified that there was no need for the exams based on the child’s medical records. Regular doctors visits from birth until the child was 18 months all noted no concerns and Cupino never raised any additional issues, like the ones he was claimed to be examining for, Funnell said.
Funnell agreed with the defense that the doctors all testified that clinical technique was used in those two videos. However, Funnell said, they only reviewed the specific videos and not any of the context the prosecution argues points to a sexual motive.
Even while agreeing medical technique was used, all of the doctors testified that there was no need for them based on records, Funnell said, and two testified that they would never, for any reason, record these types of exams.
Funnell also noted that the only medical examinations Cupino recorded were ones on the child’s genitals. For example, there were no recordings of ear, nose, throat or eye exams, Funnell said.
One piece of evidence Funnell said heavily demonstrated Cupino’s sexual intent was footage of the child interacting with a sex doll Cupino had purchased.
Langan said these videos depicted “innocent explorations” where Cupino indulged the child’s curiosity. There was no evidence the child was allowed to interact in inappropriate ways with the doll, he said.
“Any interaction between [the child] and that sex doll was inappropriate,” Funnell said during rebuttal.
Funnell said Cupino’s testimony was full of “after-the-fact excuse[s]” and asked the jury to reject them.
“The excuses are over. Tell him that,” Funnell said. “Tell the defendant the excuses are over.”
Sentencing is set for July 30.
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: Oconto Falls doctor found guilty of 5 counts of child pornography
Reporting by Vivian Barrett, Green Bay Press-Gazette / Green Bay Press-Gazette
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