A man found living in the woods in River Falls is accused of possessing hundreds of child pornography images on a cell phone.

Roman James Serbesku, 35, homeless, River Falls, was ordered to pay $10,000 cash bond Sept. 9 in Pierce County Circuit Court on 10 felony possession of child pornography (repeater) charges. If convicted, the maximum penalty is 25 years in prison and/or fines up to $100,000.

According to the complaint:

A woman contacted police July 9 because she believed Serbesku had violated a restraining order she had against him by creating a Facebook account and contacting her. UW-River Falls campus police had discovered Serbesku camping on campus the day prior; The Department of Corrections was tracking his location with an ankle monitor that showed he was in the area of the Melvin Wall Amphitheatre.

Officers made announcements on the public address microphone attached to the squad car and a K9 came to assist with the search. Police located Serbesku in a hammock in the campus woods. He had a black backpack with him. He told officers his cell phone was broken, but they found a second, functioning cell phone with internet access in the hammock where he had been sleeping.

On July 31, an investigator completed a review of Serbesku’s cell phone, which included multiple social media accounts belonging to him, court records searches related to his cases and hundreds of child sexual abuse images. Some depicted nude juvenile females ages 3-12 years in sexual positions with adults or other juveniles.

Officers interviewed Serbesku at the Pierce County Jail. He initially denied having a Facebook account or contacting the complainant. He also said he didn’t remember having a phone. He told officers he had been released from prison about a year prior and complained of being in prison without adequate care for a broken collar bone. He then denied knowing what was on the phone.

Serbesku said nudity of an underage person does not qualify as child pornography. When asked if he believed that Wisconsin state law would not prohibit him from having naked pictures of children under the age of 18, he stated that his understanding of the statute was that for a picture of a nude child to qualify as pornography it had to be lewd exhibition. As the interview continued Serbesku suggested that the phone from the hammock was another person’s who had a bad addiction and would say they were leaving for an hour but would be gone for days getting high on methamphetamine. He refused to provide the person’s name.

He went on to say that when he was in prison, he used the material “to not hurt people and to not abuse kids.” He added that in prison he asked for treatment for “his terrible thoughts,” such as abusing children. Serbesku said he had been abused as a child.

On Sept. 23, 2020, Serbesku was convicted of three felony possession of child pornography, three felony throw/discharge bodily fluid at public safety worker or prosecutor, felony attempt battery to injunction petitioner, felony battery to emergency rescue worker, felony child abuse – intentionally cause harm, violate harassment/restraining order – injunction, computer message – threaten obscenity and two battery charges in Pierce County Circuit Court. He was sentenced to five years in prison and 10 years of extended supervision on Dec. 14, 2020.

A status conference for this latest case is scheduled for 3 p.m. Oct. 14.