Wisconsin man gets 25 years in prison for arson, child porn

FOND DU LAC, Wis. (AP) — A judge on Friday sentenced a North Fond du Lac man accused of setting multiple fires and storing child pornography on his phone to 25 years in prison.

Fond du Lac County Circuit Judge Tricia Walker sentenced 45-year-old Michael Miller on two counts of arson, five counts of possession of child pornography, two counts of first-degree reckless endangerment, one count of burglary and two counts of criminal damage to property. Every count is a felony.

Miller pleaded no contest to the charges in June. District Attorney Eric Toney dropped more than a dozen other charges against Miller as part of a plea deal.

According to a criminal complaint, Miller told police he started multiple fires around Fond du La County between 2018 and 2020. One fire destroyed a vacant mobile home in North Fond du Lac in March 2020. The same night he set a town of Friendship house on fire with an 88-year-old woman inside, according to the complaint. She escaped without injury.

Police discovered the child pornography on Miller’s phone during an interview with him in April 2020, the complaint said.

Walker’s sentence calls for Miller to spend 25 years in prison and another 25 years on extended supervision.