Crime & Safety

Tosa Man Charged with Possession, Distribution of Child Pornography

Federal investigation turns up sexual images of young children on computer, hard drives.

A Wauwatosa man faces federal charges of possession and distribution of child pornography after agents searched his home and found images of young children engaged in sex acts, authorities said.

Alex Grade, 23, was indicted after FBI agents conducted the search in early March as part of an investigation that had been ongoing since September.

According to an indictment filed March 22, agents recovered a computer and two external hard drives that contained graphic images of young boys and girls, many thought to be as young as 5 years old, engaged in sex acts with adults and with one another.

Find out what's happening in Wauwatosawith free, real-time updates from Patch.

In one case, an image involved an adult engaged in a sex act with an infant.

Grade was not in any of the images, according to the indictment.

Find out what's happening in Wauwatosawith free, real-time updates from Patch.

While Patch typically posts documents such as the indictment on the website, that is not being done in instance due to the graphic nature of the indictment.

The case stems from an investigation by the Kirksville (MO) Regional Crimes Unit and the Milwaukee office of the FBI Cyber Crimes Task Force.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Gail J. Hoffman, who is prosecuting the case, said she could not release any information not contained in the indictment, but said Grade is not in custody at this time.

Hoffman said that Grade has a hearing scheduled in federal court at 9:45 a.m. April 8 in front of Judge Patricia Gorence.

If convicted of the possession charge, Grade faces a maximum of 10 years in prison and a fine of $250,000. If convicted of the distribution charges, he faces a mandatory minimum sentence of five years and a maximum of 20 years in prison.

Grade also faces a minimum of five years and up to life of supervised release.


Get more local news delivered straight to your inbox. Sign up for free Patch newsletters and alerts.

We’ve removed the ability to reply as we work to make improvements. Learn more here

To request removal of your name from an arrest report, submit these required items to arrestreports@patch.com.

More from Wauwatosa