MADISON − A 64-year-old Wood County man was indicted May 13 by a federal grand jury on the charge of possessing child sexual abuse material.
Dennis T. McCullough was in possession of “very disturbing child sexual abuse material” and text conversations were found on McCullough’s hard drive, according to a news release from the Wood County Sheriff’s Office.
McCullough was convicted of four counts of child pornography possession in November 2021, in Wood County Circuit Court. He also has other convictions outside of Wisconsin, according to the news release. He was on the Wisconsin Department of Corrections Sex Offender Registry at the time the new offenses were allegedly committed, according to the news release.
In the recent case, a concerned witness reported to the Wood County Sheriff’s Office that McCullough was having in-person contact with a minor, according to the news release. An investigation uncovered information that McCullough attempted to pray on young children according to the news release. McCullough told investigators he received nude photographs from minors through various social media applications. McCullough also admitted to viewing child sexual abuse material with children as young as 4 years old, according to the news release.
Along with the federal indictment, the Wood County Sheriff’s Office has requested charges of child abuse material possession, exposing a minor to harmful material and grooming a child for sexual activity. Those charges had not been filed as of May 22.
The investigation was part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative to combat child sexual exploitation and abuse. The FBI assisted Wood County investigators in the case.
Contact Karen Madden at kmadden@gannett.com. Follow her on Twitter @KMadden715, Instagram @kmadden715 or Facebook at www.facebook.com/karen.madden.33.
This article originally appeared on Wisconsin Rapids Daily Tribune: Wood County man facing federal charge of child pornography possession
Reporting by Karen Madden, Wisconsin Rapids Daily Tribune / Wisconsin Rapids Daily Tribune
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