Downtown business owner, youth instructor, charged with possession of child porn
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By Brandi Makuski
A downtown business owner has been charged with 10 counts of possession of child pornography.
Charges were filed in Portage Co. Circuit Court on Sept. 25 against Stephen C. Manasreh-Decker, 45, of Amherst. An arrest warrant was also issued on Wednesday but not signed until Thursday morning, by which point he’d already hired a lawyer and contacted law enforcement with his intentions to cooperate.
During Manaresh-Decker’s bond hearing on Sept. 26, Judge Michael Zell quashed the arrest warrant after Manaresh-Decker’s attorney, John Holevoet, stated his client voluntarily appeared in court soon after being made aware of the charges.
According to court records, Manasreh-Decker is charged with 10 Class C felony counts.
“These are charges, however, that are extraordinarily serious,” said Assistant District Attorney Cass Cousins during the Sept. 26 hearing. “The defendant is charged with 10 different counts… If convicted, he faces a significant potential incarceration. [Counts] one through five also have mandatory minimums if convicted of three years of initial confinement.”
Cousins requested a $100,000 cash bond, citing the serious nature of the charges, the defendant’s access to children through his business, and the risk of non-appearance in court due to the severity of the potential penalties. Cousins also pointed out that Manasreh-Decker had recently wiped his social media and business presence from the internet.
Manaresh-Decker owns Five Rings Martial Arts at 929 Main St. in downtown Stevens Point. The business appeared to be closed on Thursday, and neighboring business owners said they observed people removing awards and other items from the windows earlier this week.
“This is someone who has basically completely eliminated their social media and online presence as well as their business presence,” Cousins said. “The business he has operated for 10 years… from the state’s perspective, cannot be done while the defendant is on bond.”
Holevoet argued that no cash bond was necessary, emphasizing Manasreh-Decker’s strong ties to the community, including 20 years of residence, local business ownership, and a child enrolled in local schools.
“The fact that he made himself available… I think that, again, just shows how serious he’s taking it and how he wants to respond in an appropriate manner,” Holevoet said. “Frankly, his entire behavior about this matter to this point has shown that it’s not necessary.”
Judge Zell acknowledged the seriousness of the charges but agreed with Holevoet that a lower cash bond was appropriate.
“The court does think that some cash bond is appropriate,” Zell said. “I think the state’s request is probably more than necessary, given the lack of any criminal history, the immediate appearance in court here on issuing the warrant, and the cooperation with law enforcement.”
Zell set the bond at $25,000 and imposed several conditions, including that Manasreh-Decker have no contact with anyone under the age of 18, except for his biological child, that he not operate any business involving minors, and that he surrender his passport.
The preliminary hearing is scheduled for Oct. 7.
The criminal complaint
According to the criminal complaint, the investigation began after a cyber tip was submitted to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC) in April 2024, alerting authorities to a Tumblr account believed to be used by Manaresh-Decker.
The cyber tip linked the Tumblr account to Manaresh-Decker’s email address and IP address. A Portage Co. detective, assigned to the Wisconsin Internet Crimes Against Children (ICAC) Task Force, spearheaded the investigation. On Aug. 28, two detectives interviewed Manaresh-Decker at his residence in the town of Amherst.
During the interview, Manaresh-Decker initially denied intentionally seeking child sexual abuse material (CSAM) but admitted to having viewed such material on occasion. He claimed it was accidental, asserting that he had encountered inappropriate content while searching for pornography involving petite adult women.
One detective noted a change in Manaresh-Decker’s body language as the interview progressed, describing him as becoming “tense and fidgety,” the complaint said. Decker eventually admitted to viewing CSAM in 2019 or 2020 while going through a divorce, although he maintained it was not intentional.
Following the interview, law enforcement executed a search warrant at Manaresh-Decker’s residence. They seized several electronic devices, including two Samsung cellphones and an Alienware laptop, which were later subjected to forensic analysis.
The examination of the devices revealed numerous explicit images and videos, including depictions of prepubescent children engaging in sexually explicit conduct. In one device, authorities discovered 10 images that met the legal definition of child pornography under Wisconsin Statute § 948.12(1m). Additionally, 73 other images were flagged as “age difficult,” potentially depicting minors in explicit content, according to the complaint.
Detectives also uncovered AI-generated images on Manaresh-Decker’s laptop. The complaint alleges these images portrayed children engaged in sexually explicit acts, including disturbing depictions involving animals. The five AI-generated images were referred to the Portage County District Attorney’s Office for prosecution.
The complaint states that Decker knowingly possessed these materials between February and August 2024, with some images dating back as early as 2020.
Law enforcement expressed concern over the volume and nature of the content found in Decker’s possession, especially the use of AI technology to generate explicit imagery, the complaint said.
Manasreh-Decker has made some recent donations to area schools. A Sept. 16 post made by P.J. Jacobs Junior High School shows Manasreh-Decker posing with school staff donating a large bag of school supplies.
A similar social media post was made by Jefferson Elementary School on Sept. 16.
Manasreh-Decker also posed for a photo with three minor martial arts students, which was posted on the SafeKids USA/Blue Dragon Taekwondo School’s page.
The Five Rings Martial Arts company website and Facebook page are no longer active but it wasn’t immediately clear when they were taken down. The company’s bio is still listed on the website of the Stevens Point Association, which is the downtown business organization:
Five Rings Martial Arts is the area’s premier Taekwondo training facility. With the most experienced instructor staff and the State’s ONLY taekwondo athletes that compete and reach the medal podium at national and international events. All of the Five Rings instructors and staff have taken and PASSED the US Olympic Committee’s SafeSport “Abuse in Sport” course and have passed the USOC’s rigorous background check. Unlike other area schools, Five Rings has a zero tolerance policy for instructors with any sort of criminal history. Five Rings is the best equipped facility with the top-of-the-line equipment to help all students reach their maximum potential – in and out of the ring. Our Mission: “Create Champions in Sport and Life”.