Special Agents from the Wisconsin Department of Justice (DOJ) Partner with the Appleton Police Department in Internet Crimes Against Children (ICAC) Operation

Andreas Petanitis Arrested, Charged with Five Counts of Possession of Child Pornography

MADISON — On Monday, November 19, 2012, Andreas M. Petanitis, formerly of Appleton, was charged with five counts of Possession of Child Pornography-Repeater after an investigation by the Wisconsin Department of Justice — Division of Criminal Investigation (DCI), with assistance from the Appleton Police Department. Arraignment is scheduled for December 17, 2012, at 9:15 a.m.

On September 24, 2012, an agent with the Division of Criminal Investigation (DCI), along with sergeants from the Appleton Police Department, made contact with Andreas Petanitis at his home in Appleton. According to the criminal complaint, the defendant's email address had been identified as being associated with uploading child pornography on the Internet. According to the complaint, Petanitis consented to an on-scene forensic preview of a laptop computer belonging to him at which time a computer forensic analyst with the DOJ observed a number of images containing children engaged in sexually explicit conduct located on the computer's hard drive in the Yahoo messenger picture folder.

The Appleton Police Department is an affiliate of Wisconsin's ICAC Task Force. Questions concerning this case should be directed to the Outagamie County District Attorney's Office. A defendant enjoys the presumption of innocence. The prosecution must prove its allegations at trial beyond a reasonable doubt.