Appleton Woman Lands 20-Year Prison Sentence for Child Pornography Production

A 38-year-old Appleton woman has been sentenced to 20 years in federal prison for producing and distributing child pornography.

Charlotta A. Belgum, 38, of Appleton, Wisconsin, was sentenced on June 3, 2024, by Senior United States District Judge William C. Griesbach.

Belgum created child pornography using a minor child and distributed the child pornography via the internet to an individual in Texas whom she had met in an online fetish forum, according to court records.

The recipient of the child pornography has been arrested and has charges pending in the Eastern District of Wisconsin, court records indicate. Belgum also distributed other images of child pornography and engaged in lengthy online conversations centered around the intended sexual abuse of children.

At the sentencing hearing, Judge Griesbach noted that Belgum’s crime was “of great magnitude and despicable” in nature. He emphasized the profound impact of the crime on Belgum’s victims.

Upon the completion of her twenty-year federal prison sentence, Belgum will spend the remainder of her life on supervised release. She will also have to register as a sex offender under state and federal law.

This case was brought as 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 U.S. Department of Justice.

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.

This case was investigated by the Wisconsin Department of Justice, Division of Criminal Investigation, and the Appleton Police Department, with the assistance of the Department of Homeland Security’s Milwaukee and San Antonio Field Offices.

It was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Daniel R. Humble.

Public Information Officer Kenneth Gales can be reached at Kenneth.Gales@usdoj.gov or (414) 297-1700 for further information.