A 78-year-old Onalaska man has been accused of downloading pornography at his place of employment.
Larry B. Ruud was charged in La Crosse County Circuit Court with a single felony count of possession of child pornography.
According to the criminal complaint, police received a cyber tip that photos of children involved in explicit sexual activity had been downloaded from an IP address belonging to a West Salem employer. The owner identified Ruud as an employee who worked at the business late at night when the images were reportedly downloaded. Video footage confirmed Ruud’s presence at the site.
The complaint says police determined that someone with a user profile of LRuud conducted internet searches for child sex abuse material. Police obtained an April 4 search warrant to seize Ruud’s work station hard drive, a desktop computer from his residence and a cell phone. They were sent to the state Department of Criminal Investigation for analysis. Police also seized several memory cards.
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The complaint says Ruud declined to talk with police.
Ruud is free on a $5,000 signature bond. The bond prohibits unsupervised contact with anyone under 18 or accessing the internet. His next court date is a May 2 calendar call.