State ordered to pay DOJ agent blamed for stalled child porn investigations
MADISON -- The Wisconsin Department of Justice is giving Agent Willie Brantley an apology, sizable check and full retirement benefits. Brantley was fired in March 2014 for allegedly allowing several child pornography cases to get stalled in the system.
Brantley appealed his firing arguing the real reason he was fired was because his race. Brantley said delays in the department were beyond his control.
The state has been ordered to pay Brantley $7,5000 in damages, and attorney's fees.
Wisconsin Attorney General J.B. Van Hollen has been forced to apologize in writing for calling Brantley a rogue agent as part of the settlement agreement.
Brantley's termination has been rescinded so he can retire with full benefits.
\"Will is retiring from DCI in good standing, with accrued benefits. He has had a distinguished career with DCI, as the statement attached to the agreement points out. He has been directly involved in many high profile cases, including the shooting at the Sikh Temple, and many times placed his life on the line in the course of duty. He is satisfied with this resolution and looking forward to moving on with his career.\" - Daniel Bach, Brantley's attorney.
As part of this case, Bratley's attorney Daniel Bach told CBS 58 that he learned through depositions of other agents and his client that a task force called \"ICAC-90\" was created to clean up some of the old Internet Crimes Against Children Cases during the early part of 2014.
The DOJ said the task force ran from March 10 through June 10.
They said $32,000 in overtime was paid to agents temporarily re-assigned.
The DOJ said this is routine when addressing urgent matters.