Trial date set for former Oakwood public safety director

Trial and pre-trial dates in March have been set for former Oakwood public safety director Alex Bebris, who is facing federal prosecution regarding child pornography charges in Wisconsin.

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Bebris, 49, is charged with distribution of child pornography and possession of child pornography. If convicted, Bebris would face a mandatory minimum sentence of 5 years and up to 20 years of incarceration in federal prison.

Kenneth B. Gales, re-entry and community outreach coordinator for the U.S Attorney’s Eastern District of Wisconsin office, said Bebris was arraigned on the indictment Jan. 24, when he pleaded not guilty.

“He remains detained pending trial,” Gales said. “The final pre-trial hearing is on March 13, 2019, and his trial is scheduled to commence on March 25, 2019, at 8:30 a.m.”

Bebris initially was charged by criminal complaint on Dec. 20. He was arraigned on Dec. 26. He had a detention hearing on Jan. 2 and remains in federal custody at the Brown County Jail pending trial.

On Jan. 15, he was indicted by a grand jury on a two count indictment: count one is distribution of child pornography; and count two is possession of child pornography.

A Dell computer was seized in Bebris’ residence, and investigators told the court that 89 files involving child porn were located on the hard drive.

MORE: Facebook tip led to child porn charges for former Oakwood chief

Court documents obtained by the Dayton Daily News after Bebris’ initial court appearance in January revealed details about that the images the investigators said they found on his computer. Those included images of boys and girls appearing to range in age from 1 to 10, some engaged in sexual activity, along with images of bestiality, the records show.

Court records say Facebook submitted two cyber tips in September to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children that one of its users had sent images of child pornography via its messenger system to another Facebook user.

The tips were passed along to the Wisconsin Internet Crimes Against Children Taskforce, which tracked the IP address to Bebris’ home in Neenah, Wisconsin.

MORE: Federal charges filed against former Oakwood public safety director

The Daily News obtained Bebris' personnel files from Oakwood, which show an unblemished stint there. He was paid $107,688 in 2017, according to a Dayton Daily News searchable database of public employee pay.

Since he left Oakwood, Bebris has been turned down for a job after failing a background check and overwhelmingly lost a bid to become sheriff of a Wisconsin County.

In February 2018, he accepted an offer to be the police chief of Hortonville, a village in Wisconsin with a population of less than 3,000. He listed his job at the time as owner of a public safety consulting firm called Public Safety Strategies Inc.

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