An Elmwood man is facing felony charges after being caught allegedly asking a juvenile for nude photos and paying her for them.

Justin A. Philpot, 33, was ordered to pay $2,000 cash bond Jan. 9 in Pierce County Circuit Court on felony use of a computer to facilitate a child sex crime, felony soliciting a child for prostitution and felony possession of child pornography charges. If convicted, he faces a maximum penalty of 40 years in prison and/or fines up to $100,000.

According to the complaint:

On Sept. 30, 2025, a man contacted the Eau Claire Sheriff’s Office to report that his 14-year-old daughter had been receiving sexual messages from Philpot on an app called Discord. His daughter had met Philpot on a trip to Valley Fair when he came along with a family member. The teen said she exchanged Discord usernames with Philpot while at Valley Fair.

The teen gave police permission to look through her phone. The first conversation took place on Sept. 1 and included talk about video games, an Amazon wish list and tattoos. The deputy noted several conversations in which Philpot asked the girl for photos. The girl eventually complied and sent him a nude photo.

On Oct. 16, police forensically interviewed the teen. She admitted to sending Philpot photos and said she felt pressured to do so. She said he often asked if she wanted him to come pick her up and take her to his residence or give her kisses. The juvenile said she acted like she wanted to meet him though she really didn’t because she knew he wanted to do inappropriate things.

Philpot allegedly told her he was going to leave his girlfriend and wanted to be with her for the rest of his life. He offered for her to come live with him. He then offered her $1,000 to $2,000 to spend the weekend with him.

She said she continued to send him nude photos when he asked her how he could know she wasn’t going to get him in trouble. He bought her several items, including $500 in Amazon gift cards. The girl said he asked her for nude photos almost daily, so she started sending him ones that looked like her that she found on Google. He told her he kept the photos in a hidden folder with a passcode so no one could find them.  

Philpot allegedly caught on to her sending photos of look-alikes and offered to pay for real photos of herself. He paid her $200 for a photo of her buttocks and $100 to not tell anyone. When she tried to break it off, he asked her if she didn’t want money anymore.

Philpot is scheduled to appear in Pierce County Circuit Court at 9:15 a.m. Jan. 27 for a status conference. He posted bail on Jan. 12.