Borntreger gets probation for possession of child porn

The charge stems from information that came to local law enforcement’s attention in December 2021. An investigator with the Morrison County Sheriff’s Office was contacted by an investigator at the Kewaunsee County Sheriff’s Office in Wisconsin. He said he was calling in regard to a child pornography case, after learning a 13-year-old female from Kewaunsee County was sending and receiving nude photographs from Borntreger.

According to the criminal complaint, the Wisconsin investigator explained that he received a phone call from a concerned citizen who knows Borntreger. They stated that he was “bragging about dating a young juvenile girl.”

The citizen told law enforcement that he looked through Borntreger’s cellphone and saw nude photos of juvenile females, along with nude photos of Borntreger that he allegedly was sending to the juveniles, including the 13-year-old in Wisconsin.

The investigator contacted the Morrison County Sheriff’s Office a second time to update local law enforcement on the fact he had met with the 13-year-old. Eventually, she told him that she was in a digital relationship with a male party, whom she identified as Borntreger from Minnesota.

She initially denied sending any explicit photos to Borntreger, according to the report. However, the investigator later looked through her cellphone and observed pictures of the child in various states of undress, which had been sent to Borntreger.

The investigator allegedly asked her if she had ever met Borntreger in person. She told him that they attempted to meet in person the previous summer, but they were unable to connect. The investigator eventually received consent to obtain the child’s cellphone and download the data, which he sent to the investigator in Morrison County.

On Dec. 22, 2021, the investigator from Morrison County met with the concerned citizen who initially reported the matter to Wisconsin authorities. During a statement, the citizen told him that Borntreger told him he was in contact with a young juvenile who lived in Wisconsin.

The concerned citizen relayed, again, that he went through Borntreger’s cellphone and saw text messages between Borntreger and various females. It appeared he was sending text messages to them which, at times, included nude photographs of himself and of the children.

On Jan. 10, 2022, the Morrison County Sheriff’s Office went to Borntreger’s residence in Flensburg and placed him under arrest. He was transported to the Morrison County Jail, where he agreed to give a statement. He confirmed that he knew the juvenile in Wisconsin and that he was having communications with her.

Borntreger told the officers, however, that he believed she was 19. and that he’d known her for about eight months. He also admitted that he drove to Wisconsin to meet her, but they could not find one another.

He later stated that he did exchange some nude photographs with the child, but again insisted that he thought she was 19. However, Borntreger said he maintained contact with her after learning she was not 19 because he “was concerned for her well-being.”

The next day, the local investigator reviewed the data sent from the juvenile’s cellphone. He discovered that it contained “multiple photographs” of Borntreger attached.

According to the complaint, throughout the text messages exchanged between them, Borntreger referred to the child as his “wife,” and said he would “kill anybody for her.” He also told her that if she tried to “run away from him,” he will catch her, tie her down and never let her leave again.

At one point, they allegedly made plans to move away together to the either Washington or Oklahoma. He told her that he knew she was in school, but they could run away together and if they got caught, he could take her back home.

During a later interview with law enforcement, Borntreger admitted that about 90% of the nude photographs on his cellphone were of underage girls. He said, aside from the one attempt to meet the 13-year-old in Wisconsin, he had never tried to see any of the girls in real life.