Online Investigation Leads to Child Pornography Charges Against Superior Man

SUPERIOR, Wisc. – Investigators say they located multiple examples of child sexual abuse material when searching devices found in Patrick Anthony West’s room.

In early January, the Wisconsin Department of Justice passed on a “CyberTip” to Superior Police from the Nation Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC). According to a criminal complaint, the NCMEC said suspected child pornography had been uploaded from an IP address on Nov. 23, 2024.

The IP address came back for a Charters Communications account registered to Nicholas Johnson, at 1916 N 19th St, in Superior, according to a warrant by investigators.

Investigators with the Internet Crimes Against Children task force and Superior Police executed a search warrant at the address on Jan. 14. Johnson, another male occupant identified as 43-year-old Patrick Anthony West, and a female.

When Johnson was interviewed and told the reason for the warrant, “Johnson said “Oh my God. I do know what you’re here for.” Johnson said, “So I came home the other night, went in to smoke a bowl with Pat and I looked up at the TV and it was some young shit.” Johnson said he asked the defendant “What the fuck are you watching?” and he said the defendant was “like ‘oh fuck oh fuck.’ He went nuts, and I was like if it’s an accident it’s an accident y’a know.” Johnson denied downloading or possessing child pornography.

When investigators asked how long West had been living at the residence, Johnson estimated between four and six months.

West told investigators he watches porn but denied ever watching porn that involved children. Investigators asked him about the incident with Johnson, to which West said he had been on his “regular sites” and that “It could have been a pop-up.”

West continued, “But there’s no downloading, there’s no watching child porn. And it wasn’t even child porn, but it was definitely young looking and it freaked the shit out of me.”

Johnson’s cell phone, West’s iPhone, and a 64 GB micro-SD card that was found in West’s room, were among the items reportedly taken during the search to be analyzed. Investigators reported that they “did not observe any child pornography material” on Johnson’s phone.

When examining the SD card, officers reported finding multiple images and videos that they suspected were child pornography.

Using the files’ ‘hash values,’ a unique code used identify files, investigators were able to provide the information to the National Center for Missing and Endangered Children, which “maintains a database of hash values that are associated with images/videos of verified child pornography.”

Hash values from 19 images came back as “confirmed to depict child pornography,” according to the report.

West was arrested on Feb. 11, and if convicted on all charges, he could face more than 125 years in prison.