Former Wisconsin surgeon sentenced to prison for child porn
Surgeon accused of possessing child porn
A Wisconsin transplant surgeon has been charged by federal prosecutors with possessing child pornography.
MILWAUKEE - A former Wisconsin transplant surgeon has been sentenced to federal prison for distribution of child pornography.
47-year-old Calvin Eriksen was sentenced to six years in federal prison on Thursday, Jan. 29.
Following his prison sentence, Eriksen will spend seven years on supervised release and will have to register as a sex offender under state and federal law.
At sentencing, the judge noted that Eriksen’s "sexually deviant behavior was disturbing and that his conduct contributed to a market which perpetuates the abuse of children."
Wisconsin transplant surgeon accused of possessing child porn
He is tasked with saving lives. Now a Wisconsin transplant surgeon has been charged by federal prosecutors with possessing child pornography.
What they're saying:
"We have no higher priority in the criminal justice system than to protect children, and we will continue to devote substantial resources to catching and punishing those who steal their innocence," said United States Attorney Brad Schimel. "This case demonstrates the troubling reality that people who prey on children for sexual gratification can come from all walks of life."
"The City of Brookfield Police Department is thankful for the efforts of Homeland Security Investigations and the United States Attorney’s Office. I am proud to have such outstanding criminal justice partners who are committed to protecting our children and holding people accountable for such egregious crimes."
Original reporting | June 2025
The backstory:
He is tasked with saving lives. Now a Wisconsin transplant surgeon has been charged by federal prosecutors with possessing child pornography.
On Tuesday, July 15, 2025, federal agents showed up at a home in a Brookfield subdivision. It was the culmination of a nearly two-year Homeland Security child sex crimes investigation.
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Agents arrested 46-year-old Calvin Eriksen. Eriksen is a transplant surgeon at Children's Wisconsin, Froedtert Hospital, and he is also an assistant professor at Medical College of Wisconsin. Eriksen appeared in a federal courtroom later on Tuesday. He is charged with distribution and possession of child pornography.
Timeline:
In 2023, a Homeland Security agent in West Palm Beach, Florida was monitoring sex-related online chat rooms. The agent was pretending to be a 29-year-old woman with an 8-year-old daughter. When a user messaged that he wanted to have sex with both of them, the user said he was a surgeon in Wisconsin.
According to federal court documents, the lurid conversations continued online for several months, until the man stopped messaging.
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In July 2024, the undercover agent spotted a variation of the user's screen name in another chat room – and started the conversations again.
Filings say the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children found the user uploaded two files of apparent child pornography. One of those videos was sent from a Froedtert Hospital IP address.
A warrant for the Kik user profile later found more than 350 pictures and more than 60 videos, and distributed them on various group chats.
The user said online, "I am a surgeon. I do liver surgeries. Yes, surgeries for liver cancer and other liver conditions, including liver transplants." His profiles have since been scrubbed from the three health system's websites.
The Source: Information in this post comes from prior reporting and the U.S. Department of Justice - United States Attorney, Eastern District of Wisconsin.