• News tips, submissions
• Questions, comments
• Contact webmaster

• River Falls man dies of gunshot wound
• Former River Falls man gets three years prison for pornography

A River Falls man died Tuesday morning due to a self-inflicted gunshot wound, according to the Pierce County Sheriff's Department.

Todd Stedtfeld was found dead on his property in the town of Clifton at 10:46 a.m. He was 61 years old.

Assisting the Sheriff's Department were members of the River Falls Police Department, River Falls Ambulance, Prescott Police Department and the Pierce County Medical Examiner's Office.

By Jason Schulte, RiverTowns staff

A former county man was sentenced Monday in Pierce County Circuit Court to three years prison for possession of child pornography.

Allen C. Clausen, 46, now of St. Paul, formerly of River Falls, was also put on three years extended supervision by Judge Robert Wing.

"No question this is a serious offense as it exploits children, and young children at that," Wing said.

Incident

The charges stem from an incident last November, when, according to the criminal complaint, Clausen arrived home from work, and was met by River Falls police and agents from the Wisconsin Department of Justice, Division of Criminal Investigation (DCI), who wanted to talk him about a couple of matters. Clausen agreed and the interview was moved to the River Falls Police Department.

Investigators asked Clausen about the number of computers at the home because a search warrant had been executed there and they had information child pornography was being downloaded.

When asked about it, Clausen admitted a "normal" week would be for him to look at child pornography three times a week, including watching at least five videos. He explained he searches child pornographic web sites because he is "curious."

Clausen stated he believes the youngest age he has viewed was around three-years-old. He did say later he has become aroused while watching the images.

When asked about the number of videos he has downloaded, Clausen replied that, since the family moved to the River Falls address in March of 2008, he has done about 60 a month, or nearly 500 videos.

The complaint states he was asked if he thought it was a normal reaction to look at child pornography on videos and "the reaction that we got from him was that he didn't see where this was a subject to be concerned about."

Clausen's son Adrian was also charged with possession of child pornography and second degree sexual assault. A July 24 jury trial has been scheduled for those charges.

Hearing

Pierce County District Attorney John O'Boyle questioned multiple points that came out of the pre-sentence investigation during the hearing.

"I don't think this is someone that stumbled across it," O'Boyle started. He added over 770 images and 200 pornographic photos were found on the computer. "He also said had he known it was a felony crime, he would've stopped it immediately. Most people know that viewing pictures of kids in sexual contact is wrong."

Clausen's attorney Brian Smestad, while admitting Clausen "knew what he was doing was wrong," talked about Clausen being an outstanding member of the community prior to this incident and his marijuana use "played a part" in his inhibitions being lowered. Smestad also argued that, if Clausen was sent to prison, he wouldn't get the therapy he would need right away.

Wing disagreed, saying the need to protect the public was greater, as how would anyone feel comfortable having Clausen around their children.