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Mark Zdechlik
Mankato, Minn.

Sheriff Stanek's son charged with possessing child porn, soliciting a minor

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Updated: 12:48 p.m. | Posted: 11:10 a.m.

The adult son of Hennepin County Sheriff Rich Stanek has been charged with four felonies relating to alleged child pornography and solicitation of sex with a child.

Blue Earth County court documents say 24-year-old Ryan James Stanek, of Maple Grove, solicited what he thought was a 14-year-old girl to engage in sexual conduct.

According allegations in the criminal complaint, a father contacted the Sibley County Sheriff's Department on March 29 and reported his "young adult daughter" was having text conversations with Ryan Stanek and that Stanek was asking his daughter to help him find underage girls for him to have sex with. The complaint quotes the following alleged text message from Stanek. "I want a girl who's 8 to 12 y.o."

According to the complaint, Bureau of Criminal Apprehension investigators gained permission to assume the young woman's identity to contact Stanek regarding his desire to have sexual contact with minors. Stanek, unknowingly communicating with law enforcement, allegedly arranged to meet a 14-year-old girl at a Mankato Mall on the night of May 19 for sex.

The complaint says Stanek was arrested when he arrived at the meeting location and was brought to the Blue Earth County Justice Center. The complaint further alleges that child pornography was later discovered through searches of Stanek's telephone, including explicit pictures of an approximately three-year-old girl.

Sheriff Stanek issued a statement saying the mobile telephone involved in the alleged crimes is held in the name of his volunteer committee. But Sheriff Stanek said he pays the phone bills for members of his family on the volunteer account with personal funds.

"Ryan is an adult and is accountable for his own actions," Stanek's statement read. "As parents, we will continue to assist him [and] to do what we can to help guide him."