The Wisconsin Republican Party announced this week that it had fired a man who had been employed there for at least two years even though he had been convicted for possessing photos of naked third or fourth grade girls engaging in sexual behavior.

The Journal Sentinel reported on Wednesday that the party hired Alexander Reed Combs just one year after his felony conviction for child pornography in 2011. Campaign records indicated that he had been paid over $41,000 a year.

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According to CrimeShadow News, Combs was working as a counselor at Mukwonago camp for children when he was busted on child porn charges. Combs admitted to authorities that he had downloaded naked images of young girls and engaged in chats with people online who identified themselves as underage.

Investigators estimated that the girls in the photos were between the ages of 9 and 13.

“Combs guessed that the youngest subject in the photos he had been ‘looking at’ was probably around nine years old,” CrimeShadow News noted in 2009. “Nine. A third or fourth grader. An innocent child. In order for Combs to look at these pictures, children were exploited. Horribly so.”

Combs spent 30 days and jail and was ordered to remain on the sex offender registry until 2028 after pleading guilty in 2010.

Republican Party of Wisconsin Executive Director Joe Fadness said that Combs was dismissed from his job as soon as the party learned of the charges on Tuesday.

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“The actions of Combs are inappropriate and inexcusable, and the Republican Party of Wisconsin condemns his behavior,” Fadness insisted. “His employment at the Republican Party of Wisconsin is terminated effective immediately.”

Fadness, however, did not explain how Combs made it through the party’s background check process when a simple Google search would have revealed the conviction.

Wisconsin GOP officials said that Combs worked as a telemarketer, and he had no direct contact with children.

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[Photo credit: Wisconsin Department of Corrections SOR Registrant Information]