A young man who has spent a considerable amount of time coaching youth sports has been arrested and charged with sexual offenses against minors. Reports indicate that the Minnesota man was taken into custody in connection to reports of two missing teenage girls. He now faces serious sex crime charges, in addition to accusations of using the Internet to lure the children to his home.
Reports indicate that he met the two 13-year-old girls through a website that urges users to “talk to strangers.” He is alleged to have arranged to pick the girls up and take them to his home, at which time they went into the basement of the home. When the girls were reported missing, police tracked their location using computer forensics.
When police arrived at the man’s home, they found the two girls in the basement. Charges of criminal sexual conduct in the third degree, solicitation of a child and kidnapping soon followed. Shortly afterward, the man was placed on leave from his position as a youth coach, and school officials are looking into whether there are any students who have had inappropriate contact with him.
As of the time of this report, only one side of this story has been released. The Minnesota man facing these sex crime charges has not yet had a chance to respond. For one, it is not clear whether he knew that the girls were underage, or if he believed that any encounter between the parties was consensual. Until more details are shared and the matter goes before a court of law, readers should avoid jumping to any conclusions concerning whether he is guilty of the crimes of which he is accused.
Source: mprnews.org, “Man charged with sex, kidnapping crimes tied to Andover teens“, , Oct. 2, 2014