Were vacationers victimized? Sturgeon Bay men charged in case involving alleged child porn

STURGEON BAY (WITI) -- Two Sturgeon Bay men have been charged in a case involving alleged child pornography. One of them is accused of hiding a camera in his bookstore's bathroom.

37-year-old Steven Link is charged with possessing child pornography and invasion of privacy. 26-year-old Kory Murphy is facing charges of possessing child pornography.

The two men appeared in court in Door County on Monday, September 15th.

Untitled Used and Rare Books bookstore in Sturgeon Bay is closed, for now. A sign on the front door says it's because of a family emergency.

The business' proprietor made a court appearance Monday, in handcuffs and an orange, jail-issued uniform.

Steven Link and another man, Kory Murphy, were arrested earlier this month as a part of an internet sex crimes investigation.

"The more we dig into this, the bigger it gets," Sturgeon Bay Police Captain Dan Brinkman said.

Court documents say police traced a child pornography video to an internet address, that belongs to Link.

"The hard drives that we're looking at, we have to preview, there's a voluminous number of images. This is going to take a long time," Captain Brinkman said.

Police say they found lewd pictures and videos in Link's home and business.

According to the criminal complaint, as police were searching Link's bookstore, he told police he had been secretly videotaping people in the restroom with a camera disguised as a smoke detector. Court documents say police found videos of girls and adult women in various stages of undress using the bookstore's bathroom.

Police say it's unclear how many victims there might be, but that people, especially vacationers, need to know about this case and come forward.

"We would like to identify the individuals that may have been in the store. Used the bathroom, or may have actually been in the lower unit or the lower basement where there were also cameras set up," Captain Brinkman said.

Court documents say police also found two pornographic images of young girls in Murphy's possession.

Murphy sublets the apartment he lives in from Link.

Murphy's attorney says his client is innocent and maintains he had no knowledge of the alleged files in question.

"It's not bogus. These are serious, significant charges, and my client takes them significantly. The fact that it's child pornography is offensive to everybody, and nobody less than my client," Kory Murphy's attorney, Brett Reetz said.

Link's attorney, Brian Maloney, fiancee and ex-wife declined to comment after the hearing.

Both men are out on bond and due back in court next month.