Wisconsin- A Fond du man charged with 10 felony counts has admitted to police that he hid video cameras in a radio, a Lysol can, two fans and a Winnie the Pooh clock and secretly recorded the movements of two young girls.
The district’s attorney’s office said more charges are expected.
Craig M. Baasch, 40, of 154 E. Johnson St., remained in custody Thursday afternoon on $5,000 cash bail. The bail amount, ordered in intake court by retired reserve Judge Fred Hazelwood, was half of what was requested by Assistant District Attorney Charles Schneider.
Baasch, who appeared in court without an attorney, faces up to 35 years in prison and $100,000 in fines if convicted of two counts of making a visual representation of nudity and eight counts of possession of child pornography.
He is scheduled to appear in court for a preliminary hearing at 9:30 a.m. Friday, Aug. 11.
Hazelwood ordered the defendant to use money in his savings account to pay for a court-appointed attorney, though Baasch pointed out he needed the money to pay back his mother.
“Right now, you need a lawyer more than you need your mother,” Hazelwood told him.
When asked if he wished to be heard, Baasch said, “No.”
Arrested three days ago, Baasch told authorities he first videotaped the girls, ages 12 and 15, starting about a year ago when he lived with his mother, according to the criminal complaint.
When Fond du Lac police searched the property on July 31, they reported finding six cameras in his home, including some in the bathroom and shower, according to a criminal complaint.
The defendant told authorities he purchased the items on eBay.
Baasch said several times he videotaped other girls who visited the residence, and that he destroyed tapes made of the 12-year-old because she was “too young.”
One of the girls found a camera in the defendant’s room after she removed a mirror from the wall to look at a recently pierced ear and discovered a two-way mirror, she told investigators. A camera was reportedly facing the bathroom.
The same girl also reported an unusual black box in the shower and upon investigating a Pooh Bear and Tigger clock given to her by the defendant, found a camera hidden inside, according to the complaint.
The girl said she and a friend were given pills by Baasch, which he said were vitamins, and reported feeling “woozy and dizzy,” according to the complaint. Police lab tests indicated the pills were Ambien, a sleeping pill.
Computers and other electronic evidence seized by investigators from Baasch’s home contained sexually suggestive and pornographic images of young females between the ages of 11 and 15, Police Capt. Jeff Venne wrote in the report. Some of the language spoken on the films appeared to be Russian.
In all, approximately 500 images were found downloaded onto files, the complaint stated, with about 50 of those meeting the statutory requirements of child pornography.
Baasch admitted he is addicted to pornography and needs help, according to the complaint.
He was ordered to have no contact with the victims, not use a computer or related equipment and have no unsupervised contact with any children under the age of 18.