Man pleads guilty to child porn

Published 5:00 pm Saturday, May 7, 2011

A 45-year-old Austin man has pleaded guilty to one count of possessing child pornography — a felony.

Michael Duane Olson entered his plea in Mower County Court Friday morning. Three other child pornography charges were dropped when Olson entered into a plea agreement.

According to a court complaint, images and videos of children performing sexual acts on one another were found on Michael Duane Olson’s computer. At least seven images and two videos found on his hard drive contained three victims that were identified by the NCMEC (National Center for Missing and Exploited Children).

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Austin police received information in October 2009 from an officer with the Minneapolis Police Department who is affiliated with ICAC (Internet Crimes Against Children) that Olson may have been searching child pornography on the internet.

A search warrant was obtained and Olson’s computer, along with some CDs and DVDs, were seized as evidence on Oct. 27, 2009.

A forensic examination of the computer was ordered, but due to a backlog, ICAC was unable to complete the exam for several months.

Immediately after the search warrant was executed, Olson was questioned by Austin police. Olson said he downloaded videos via LimeWire but said he was “just running across” the pornographic depictions of children.

Olson admitted later in the interview to searching and downloading “pre-teen stuff.” He told officers he had downloaded such videos 10-15 times in the last year.

The results of the forensic examination came back in August 2010, and the report said Olson’s hard drive contained several files of prepubescent children engaging in sexual acts or posed in a manner that mimics adult pornography or allows lewd displays of the children’s genitalia.

Olson is scheduled for sentencing on June 10.