Bebris accused of sharing images over Facebook
Alexander P. Bebris, who ran an unsuccessful campaign for Outagamie County sheriff over the summer, will spend at least five years in federal prison if convicted of child pornography charges.
Bebris, 49, of Neenah, has been charged in federal court on Thursday, Dec. 20, the United States Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Wisconsin announced.
Bebris was charged with distribution of child pornography and possession of child pornography following an arrest at his Neenah residence on Dec. 19.
He faces a mandatory minimum of five years in prison and a maximum of 20 years if convicted.
According to the criminal complaint and the affidavit of support, in September, Facebook notified the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children that a user had sent images of child pornography to another Facebook user’s account via Facebook Messenger.
The Wisconsin Department of Justice’s Internet Crimes Against Children Taskforce launched an investigation and determined the images were sent from the Internet Protocol address used at Bebris’s Neenah residence.
On Dec. 19, investigators with the Winnebago County Sheriff’s Office executed a search warrant at Bebris’s residence.
A preliminary forensic examination of the hard drive on Bebris’s computer revealed images of pornography involving children ranging in age from approximately 1 to 10 years old.
A former Hortonville resident, Bebris lost the Republican Outagamie County sheriff primary in August to Clint Kriewaldt. Kriewaldt ran uncontested in November’s general election and won the seat.
Documents released just before the election revealed Bebris had applied for a chief of police position at the Hortonville Police Department last year.
The Hortonville Village Board extended him a job offer this past February contingent upon him passing his background check.
However, Bebris failed his background check due to a number of factors.
Email records indicate village officials expressed concern about Bebris’s frequent history of applying for jobs, his desire to continue operating two private law enforcement-related businesses if hired as police chief, and his nondisclosure of five companies he owned or was a registered agent for in his job application.
The village board in March voted to rescind Bebris’s job offer. The next morning prior to his job offer being rescinded, Bebris withdrew his application saying he wanted to focus on his private security consultation business.
A Wisconsin native, Bebris worked a three-decade law enforcement career for agencies including Marquette University; the city of Milwaukee; the town of Menasha; the village of Fremont; the city of St. Charles, Minnesota; Adams County; and the city of Oakwood, Ohio.
Most recently, Bebris served as public safety director in Oakwood, Ohio prior to moving back to Wisconsin in November 2017.