Milwaukee, Wisconsin - A Wisconsin man was sentenced Wednesday to 20 years in prison, followed by 10 years of supervised release, for producing and possessing child pornography in 2015 and engaging in illicit sexual conduct with a minor in the Philippines between 2014 and 2015.

Assistant Attorney General Brian A. Benczkowski of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division and U.S. Attorney Matthew D. Krueger of the Eastern District of Wisconsin made the announcement.

Jeffrey H. Ernisse, 63, was sentenced by U.S. District Court Judge Lynn S. Adelman of the Eastern District of Wisconsin.  According to admissions made in connection with his guilty plea, while law enforcement was investigating Ernisse for production of child pornography in Wisconsin, they discovered evidence of additional child pornography production from the Philippines on Ernisse’s digital devices.  He sexually assaulted a four-year-old girl and then recorded the sexual assaults on March 10, 2015 and April 17, 2015.

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) with the cooperation of the Sheboygan, Wisconsin, Police Department investigated the case.  Former Trial Attorney William M. Grady of the Criminal Division’s Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section (CEOS) and Assistant U.S. Attorney Megan J. Paulson of the Eastern District of Wisconsin prosecuted the case.

This investigation is a part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice.  Led by U.S. Attorneys’ Offices and CEOS, Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state, and local resources to better locate, apprehend, and prosecute individuals who exploit children via the Internet, as well as to identify and rescue victims.  For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit www.justice.gov/psc.