Outagamie County HR director charged in federal court with possession of child pornography

APPLETON — Former Outagamie County Human Resources Director Adam Westbrook has been charged in federal court with producing and possessing child pornography.

The 34-year-old former county HR director faces four counts of possession of child pornography and four counts of sexual exploitation of a child.

According to the criminal complaint, Westbrook is accused of taking pornographic videos of a child at a hotel in Lake Delton and sending them to a Racine County deputy.

Westbrook was booked in Sauk County jail Feb. 16 after multiple agencies executed search warrants of Westbrook's home and Snapchat account as part of a Kenosha County investigation.

Westbrook has been employed at Outagamie County, Sheboygan and Neenah

Westbrook started as Outagamie County's human resources director in September, according to his LinkedIn profile.

Outagamie County Executive Tom Nelson said in a statement to The Post-Crescent that Westbrook resigned from his position the day after his arrest and is "no longer associated with the county."

Westbrook was also the city of Sheboygan's human resources director between January 2023 and September, before stepping down over claims that he experienced “hateful” and “defamatory” targets against him.

After nine months in the role, Westbrook emailed several Sheboygan city officials Aug. 30 detailing his resignation. The email was obtained by the Sheboygan Press through an open records request.

In his email, Westbrook said a part of the community was “deliberately untruthful and unwelcoming” toward him.

“Since starting at the City, I have been subject to an onslaught of false, defamatory, and downright hateful statements and accusations coming from a small group of individuals who seem to relish in conspiracy theories, name calling, and trying as hard as they can to rid the City of anyone who doesn’t look, think, or act like them,” the email stated.

Those referenced allegations came from a community group called “Take Back Sheboygan County” which posted blog entries on the events that led up to former Sheboygan City Administrator Todd Wolf's termination.

Several of those entries alleged Westbrook’s action led to “corruption” at City Hall, with at least two blog entries attributing the resignation of a few long-term city employees to Westbrook’s conduct.

Westbrook denied those allegations in an interview with the Sheboygan Press.

Before moving to Sheboygan, took a job as the executive director of human resources and legal affairs for Cooperative Educational Service Agency 6 in Oshkosh.

Prior to that he served as Neenah’s city attorney and deputy city attorney between 2018 and 2022.

Westbrook volunteered in Menasha and Kaukauna schools before arrest

Outside of his government roles, Westbrook worked on school and community theater productions throughout the Fox Valley.

Westbrook assisted with theater productions at the Menasha Joint School District and the Kaukauna Area School District.

On Tuesday, MJSD superintendent Matt Zimmerman told The Post-Crescent Westbrook was no longer associated with the school.

In a statement to parents last Friday, Zimmerman said, "This afternoon we were made aware of pending charges against Adam Westbrook. Adam Westbrook was assigned as an at-will co-curricular advisor for the Menasha High School musical. We are shocked by the charges. Mr. Adam Westbrook will not be assisting further with the musical."

The same day, KASD superintendent Mike Slowinski also provided a statement to The Post-Crescent, also sent to parents last Friday:

"This afternoon, we were made aware of pending charges in Sauk County against Adam Westbrook. Mr. Westbrook was the assistant director for the River View musical this year. Moving forward, he will no longer be assisting with the musical. We will continue to monitor the situation in Sauk County."

Westbrook also regularly participated in the theater group Kaukauna Community Players.

Rebecca Loroff and Alex Garner contributed to this report.

Sophia Voight covers local government and politics in the Fox Valley for The Post-Crescent. She can be reached with feedback and story tips at svoight@postcrescent.com.

This article originally appeared on Appleton Post-Crescent: Adam Westbrook charged with possession of child pornography