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Posted at 6 p.m. on December 20, 2021 The Brillion News
MANITOWOC - A 50-year old rural Maribel man was arrested for possession of child pornography, for a sex offender registry violation, and for possession a firearm as a felon.
The case against Smedley Butler began when Manitowoc County Sheriff's detectives received a tip from the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children alerting them to suspicious on-line activity in the county.
Sheriff Dan Hartwig said detectives determined that the person was Butler. On December 17, search warrants were executed and Butler confessed to have child pornography on his electronic devices.
Butler was already on the sex offender registry after his 2009 conviction for possession of child pornography in Manitowoc County Circuit Court. In that case, he was convicted on one of 10 counts of possession of child pornography, and spent 30 days in the county jail and five years on probation.
Manitowoc City Police and the state Division of Criminal Investigations assisted sheriff's officers in the current investigation, which remains ongoing.