BROOKFIELD — A Brookfield man is facing 10 felony counts of possessing child pornography after prosecutors say an undercover detective caught him attempting to pay to have sex with a child.
Detectives also found thousands of images and videos of violent child pornography on his electronic devices and a large number of psychedelic mushrooms at his home, a criminal complaint released this week states.
Garrett M. Wootan, 37, was charged with ten counts of possessing child pornography and one count of possessing with intent to deliver psilocin or psilocybin in Waukesha County Court Tuesday. If found guilty, Wootan could spend decades in prison and face hundreds of thousands of dollars in fines.
The criminal complaint states that during a prostitution sting operation, the undercover detective had a conversation via text message with a man later identified as Wootan. During the conversation, Wootan allegedly discussed an ad for prostitution and plans to meet up and engage in sexual activity with children.
Wootan said that he would be "open to a range between 4 and 12" for the age he was looking for, the complaint states. Investigators say other messages sent in an app show Wootan asked about 54 times for a young child to "play with" and that he would pay for the sexual activity.
Wootan also discussed providing narcotics and pills to the children so that they would not feel anything or remember, according to the complaint.
Police officers arrested Wootan at his place of employment for solicitation of a minor child. Wootan works as a general manager at Cooper's Hawk Winery and Restaurants in Brookfield, the complaint and his LinkedIn profile state.
Using a search warrant, investigators searched through Wootan's portable hard drive and found ten photos and videos of child pornography, prosecutors say.
During a search of Wootan's Brookfield home address, detectives found six gallon-sized bags full of psychedelic mushrooms and a "Magic Mushroom's Grower's Guide" book. Two syringes with stickers identifying them with fungal spores were also found. The mushrooms were confirmed as containing Psilocin, the psychedelic substance, according to the complaint.
Investigators say Wootan declined to speak with them.
A preliminary review shows Wootan's electronic devices contain between 5,000-10,000 images of child sexual abuse, the complaint states. That includes images of infants and very young babies and children being "sexually assaulted, bondage and bestiality," according to the complaint. A full review of Wootan's electronic devices is ongoing.
He will be in court for his preliminary hearing on April 14.
