Sun Prairie man gets 18 years for producing child pornography

Chris Ramirez, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
·2 min read
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A registered sex offender from Sun Prairie is going to prison for nearly two decades for producing child pornography.

Robert D. Sutton Jr., 52, was sentenced Thursday in Madison to an 18-year prison term by U.S. District Judge William M. Conley. The judge also ordered Sutton to serve lifetime supervision after he is released.

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Sutton pleaded guilty Oct. 3 to a federal charge of producing child pornography. The charge stemmed from an investigation that was part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative that helps find, apprehend and prosecute people who exploit children on the Internet.

Law enforcement got a tip in May 2021 that Sutton sexually assaulted two minors, ages 13 and 15, Timothy M. O’Shea, the U.S. attorney for the Western District of Wisconsin, said in a statement. A search warrant executed on Sutton's phone turned up numerous close-up images of him assaulting the minors, he said.

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Sutton was convicted of assaulting a different minor in 2007 and was required to register as a sex offender. He was determined to be in violation of that requirement at the time of the assaults, O'Shea said.

In court Thursday, Conley described Sutton as calculating and said Sutton’s willingness and ability to manipulate both adults and children to use children for sexual gratification proved to be the most disturbing part of the case.

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The investigation conducted by the Sun Prairie Police Department and the Wisconsin Department of Justice Division of Criminal Investigation, with assistance from the Dane County District Attorney’s Office.

Assistant U.S. Attorneys Anita Boor and Elizabeth Altman prosecuted this case.

This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Sun Prairie man gets 18 years for producing child pornography