MADISON, Wis. - A former juvenile court judge was sentenced to nine years in prison and another 20 years of supervised release after pleading guilty to federal child pornography charges.
Brett Blomme, 39, resigned from his position in the Milwaukee County Circuit Court in early September and pleaded guilty to two counts of distribution of child pornography later that month. The former jurist appeared before a federal judge in a Madison courtroom Wednesday, Dec. 22, for a sentencing hearing.
"By viewing and downloading these images and videos, I re-victimized you, again," Blomme said, addressing the unidentified young children and toddlers abused in the downloaded files.
Blomme sat at the defense table dressed in orange prison-issued clothing, his ankles shackled together, addressing Chief Judge James Peterson. Blomme said his addictions stemmed from being a closeted gay man growing up, and that the pandemic contributed to his actions.
"I was drinking almost every night. I was obsessed by technology and social media," said Blomme. "I was filling my emptiness with these images and videos, in an attempt to make myself whole, and it did not work."
Blomme, a former assistant public defender and past president and CEO of a Milwaukee LGBTQ+ foundation, was elected to the Milwaukee County Circuit Court in April 2020 and appointed to juvenile court. Less than a year later, Blomme would face state child pornography charges, accusing him of distributing child pornography – including while in the juvenile court facility.
Federal prosecutor Chad Elgersma did not address the court during sentencing, and declined to comment following the hearing, leaving the government's filings to speak for its position in the case – saying Blomme lived a "double life."
Prosecutors recommended Blomme be sentenced to more than a decade in prison, plus an additional 20 years of supervised release, based on federal sentencing guidelines that take into account the nature of the crimes and criminal history of the defendant. The penalty for a conviction on the charges calls for a 5-year mandatory minimum sentence.
Peterson departed downward, slightly, from the calculations – noting the mandatory minimum for child pornography crimes aren't based on historical decision-making and sentencing practices, compared to other crimes, but federal laws. Peterson said the guideline enhancement for using an electronic device essentially is a double count against a defendant, as virtually all present-day child pornography cases involve a computer device of some kind.
That said, Peterson called the nature of the child pornography downloaded and disseminated by Blomme the "roughest of the rough" and that it was a set of decisions by Blomme to select and distribute such virulent content.
Read more: https://www.fox6now.com/news/child-porn-case-former-juvenile-court-judge-sentenced
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