SHEBOYGAN - A Sheboygan man faces charges of repeated sexual assault of the same child with at least three violations and child sexual exploitation, both felonies, for offenses recorded April 22.

Online court records show Hal Parfait, 28, of Sheboygan, made an initial appearance in court on Thursday, and the court found probable cause. Cash bond was set at $500,000 and a preliminary hearing is set for Wednesday.

According to a criminal complaint, detectives from the Sheboygan Police Department received a cyber tip from the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children on Sept. 5. The tip was accompanied by a subpoena from AT&T with an IP address trace involving the complaint.

The tip alerted police to the use of an online chat system that automatically captures snapshots from a webcam or video streams. The site monitors activity and alerts authorities of any instances of child pornography.

The IP address was traced to two addresses, one on Pennsylvania Avenue and another on Georgia Avenue in Sheboygan.

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Officers were sent the images from the site, which showed a young girl and a man officers identified as Parfait. The child was questioned by a child forensic interviewer, but did not disclose any type of physical or sexual abuse, the criminal complaint said.

When questioned by officers on Sept. 5, the criminal complaint said Parfait said he first went on the site with a friend to make fun of men on the site. He then went on the site with the child in question because he thought she would find it cool, the complaint added.

Parfait then admitted that this later led to him and the child engaging in sexual behavior. When asked about the frequency of the assaults, Parfait told officers "borderline 10 times."

Repeated sexual assault of a child, a Class C felony, could carry a sentence of up to 40 years in prison, a fine of $100,000, or both. Sexual exploitation of a child, a Class C felony, also could carry a sentence of up to 40 years in prison, a fine of $100,000, or both.

The state is also seeking to place Parfait on lifetime supervision if convicted because the charge has been deemed a serious sex offense. The court has also imposed a surcharge of $500 for each image or copy of an image upon conviction of the crime.