Jeremiah Button, already facing four felony counts including first-degree sexual assault with a person under the age of 12 and possession of child pornography, will now face nine additional counts related to child porn, as long as the defense can view the images by this Wednesday.
The motion to include the additional evidence was granted during Button’s final pre-trial conference on Monday and was met with some backlash by his defense team.
Additionally, video testimony of the victim will not be permitted due to a state statute that doesn’t allow such evidence to be used at trial once the victim turns 16.
The state also planned to bring two witnesses forward to testify to Button’s three-year flight from the charges, which also drew an objection from the defense team because no charges of eluding officials are on the table. The Judge chose to allow that testimony but noted that it must be brief.
Because of the new charges the possibility of a plea deal before next week’s two-day trial remains on the table.
Button was originally scheduled to go to trial on the charges back in 2016 but he fell off the face of the earth just weeks before the trial was to begin. In early August it was discovered that he had been hiding out in a makeshift bunker just off the Ice Age Trail in the Town of Ringle, living off scraps from a nearby landfill.
DNR authorities dismantled the bunker in late August, noting that outside of “sporadic and vague information on the property,” they had no idea that Button was illegally camping out on the property.
Investigators say Button had rigged up the bunker with a bicycle-powered electric generator and solar panels along with a makeshift stove. He had even rigged a TV antenna to watch over-the-air broadcasts.
