Aaron Moratz
HARTFORD, Wis. - Former Hartford Fire Department Lieutenant Aaron Moratz was sentenced on Wednesday, May 20, to nine years in prison plus an additional 11 years of extended supervision following his conviction of attempted child sexual exploitation and ten counts of possession of child pornography.
Moratz sentenced
What we know:
Moratz pleaded no contest in February to the charges of which he was convicted. Multiple other charges were dismissed and read into the court record for the purposes of sentencing.
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Back in March 2025, the Hartford police and fire chiefs said the investigation started in response to an "inappropriate conversation" between a paid on-call volunteer member of the department – identified as Moratz – and a juvenile in another state.
Aaron Moratz
According to court filings, a parent found an inappropriate message sent to a professional Instagram page for his 14-year-old son's athletic endeavors. The parent confronted the sender and was later blocked on the platform.
The message sender was later identified as Moratz, per the complaint. Court filings said Moratz told investigators he sent the message, but thought the victim was a "college-aged" athlete.
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Moratz's cellphone was seized as part of the investigation. Court filings said it uncovered a number of explicit videos involving juveniles. He later admitted there was "a lot of underage content. It was horrible the amount of content."
Aaron Moratz
What they're saying:
Washington County District Attorney Barry Braatz issued the following statement following Wednesday's sentencing:
"With his position of authority, the defendant’s actions were an extreme violation of the public’s trust. The defendant’s victimization of children through the possession of child sexual abuse material and attempt to obtain sexually explicit photos from a juvenile will never be tolerated in this community and we will work tirelessly to hold these predators accountable. I commend the juvenile victim’s father for recognizing the defendant’s predatory actions and promptly notifying law enforcement. I strongly urge all parents to be involved and engaged in their children’s social media use to ensure they are protected from online predators."
The Source: Information in this post was provided by Wisconsin Circuit Court Access and previous FOX6 News coverage.