Minnesota man sentenced to probation in child porn case – Law Officer

ROCHESTER, Minn. – A Rochester, Minn., man who admitted to viewing thousands of images of child pornography on his cellphone was sentenced on Monday to probation.

Charges filed in 2020 in Olmsted County District Court against Thomas Lee Meyer, now 54, say Rochester police were tipped off in Jan. 2019 that Meyer had suspected child pornography on a device in his possession. A search warrant for Meyer’s residence was obtained the following year in March 2020, and Meyer’s computer, cellphone, and a tablet were collected. Child pornography images were found on Meyer’s phone.

The criminal complaint against Meyer graphically described some of the images found on Meyer’s phone that depicted male and female children between the ages of approximately six to 10 years old engaged in sexual displays or acts.

Meyer initially denied viewing the child porn found on his phone and also told investigators that one of his accounts had been hacked. When confronted with evidence, Meyer eventually admitted he had viewed thousands of images of child porn on his phone and then deleted the images.

Meyer pleaded guilty in August last year to four of 10 felony counts of possessing child pornography. Under the terms of a plea deal, six of the counts were dismissed at sentencing on Monday, and Meyer received a stay-of-imposition on the remaining four counts. The plea agreement was approved by Judge Christa M. Daily who sentenced Meyer to supervised probation for a term of five years. Meyer was credited with two days spent in jail.

Under the terms of Meyer’s probation, he must register as a predatory offender, attend a sex offender program, hold no positions of authority over children, and have no contact with persons under 18 unless prior approval is obtained. Meyer was also ordered to complete 100 days of community service work.

Minnesota Crime Watch & Information publishes news, info and commentary about crime, public safety and livability issues in Minneapolis, the Twin Cities and Greater Minnesota.

This article originally appeared at Alpha News.