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	Bond Set at $20,000 in Hochmuth Child Porn Case By Angelica Duria FOX6 November 17, 2011 http://www.fox6now.com/news/witi-20111116-hochmuth-child-porn,0,188658.story Bond was set Thursday at $20,000 for Joel Hochmuth, the Director of Communications for the Lutheran Group WELS - the Wisconsin Evangelical Lutheran Synod, after he was arrested for child porn. Hochmuth has been charged with three counts of possessing child pornography, after a sting operation by the FBI's Cyber Crimes Task Force found child porn images and videos on Hochmuth's personal and work computers, as well as thumb drives. Mark Schroeder, president of Wisconsin Evangelical Lutheran Synod says they have suspended Hochmuth's employment. Schroeder says "my reaction was just total shock, surprise, devastation. This is not something I think any of us would have expected." Hochmuth was arrested at his home in Waukesha Tuesday. According to the criminal complaint in the case, an undercover FBI agent used peer-to-peer software which allowed him to connect with Hochmuth's computer and browse for files, and says Hochmuth was sharing child porn. The agent says he also chatted with Hochmuth online, and Hochmuch allegedly told him he likes pictures of males 10 years of age or older. The criminal complaint states that during his arrest, Hochmuth stated he has been struggling with an addiction to viewing pornographic photos and videos of young boys in sexually explicit poses, but denies ever creating his own pornography. The complaint also says Hochmuth's wife caught him looking at the images once, and says they went to counseling as a result. Officials removed a desktop computer and a laptop computer from Hockmuth's home, and the criminal complaint states Hochmuth said what would be found on his home computer was nothing compared to what they would find in his office. A search warrant was executed at Hochmuth's office, and FBI agents found a thumb drive, containing 310 child porn images, and 38 videos. Agents say there were several hundred images found on Hochmuth's home computer. Hochmuth is accused of possessing and distributing child pornography online. He is to have no contact with minors, except his own child, and cannot use any device that can access the internet. He is due back in court December 16th. Hochmuth was a CNN correspondent for 15 years before becoming the Director of Communications at WELS.
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