MILWAUKEE COUNTY (WITI) -- A Greendale high school senior has pleaded not guilty to child pornography charges.
Tucker Balisteri
18-year-old Tucker Balisteri faces two counts of possessing child pornography. But he told investigators he was secretly taking photos of girls in his school, underneath their skirts, without their knowledge.
Balisteri had only a few more months to go before graduating from Martin Luther High School in Greendale. That was last week -- before he was arrested, charged, suspended and now facing an expulsion hearing.
"We became aware through the Greendale Police Department that one of our students was involved in some bad decision making," said Wayne Jensen, principal at Martin Luther High School.
Court documents say that bad decision making began in his freshman year and continued. Balisteri's alleged postings on a porn sharing website and downloading of child images was eventually noticed by the Wisconsin Department of Justice.
A search warrant affidavit says Balisteri allegedly downloaded images of nude young girls. When investigators looked deeper, Balisteri allegedly posted his own homemade images of something called upskirting -- positioning a cellphone under the skirt or on the floor, looking up the skirt of high school classmates. The victims usually have no idea.
Investigators searched Balisteri's computer and say they discovered at least 150 still photos and videos of upskirting. Balisteri labeled many of the photos by the names of the girls. He told investigators they were mostly classmates at Martin Luther High School.
"We had no knowledge that this young man was a part of any of these things before. These poor choices and as a community of faith and a Christian-based organization, we're keeping everyone impacted by this in our prayers," said Jensen.
Greendale police say detectives spent the past few days contacting the parents of the dozens of victims. The school has reached out to them as well.
"As a community of faith, everybody's embracing and taking on the comfort of their Christian faith at a tough, tough time -- and we know we're going to be okay," said Jensen.
So far, there are no charges for the upskirting pictures -- just the child pornography images. The police and Milwaukee County District Attorney's Office are continuing their investigation into additional charges.
Balisteri will be back in court on February 11th for a scheduling conference.
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