COON RAPIDS, Minn. – A Coon Rapids man has been charged with producing child pornography at the Andover YMCA, after a young boy noticed an older man acting oddly in the locker room.
Anoka County Sherriff’s Office Commander Paul Sommer recounts the event. “A 12-year-old boy was changing at the Andover YMCA and he noticed a hand holding a watch over a partition where he was getting dressed… he noticed it was being held by an older adult male.” The boy then told his parents about the incident, who then notified the staff at the YMCA. The staff then contacted law enforcement, who began a collaborative investigation with the YMCA. Commander Sommers says it was assistance from YMCA staff, surveillance footage, and membership information that ultimately led to identification of the man, 53-year-old Robert Minors from Coon Rapids.
Law enforcement also got a search warrant to search Minor’s computer. Along with hundreds of downloaded pictures and videos, they found videos that appeared to be shot in the locker rooms of both the Andover and Coon Rapids YMCAs. “We issued a warrant for his home and we did recover a watch that did have video capability as well as still photo capability” Commander Sommer reports.
All of the approximately 25 videos recovered from Minor’s computer feature younger boys, from footage presumably taken from the watch video system. Law enforcement is looking into the possibility that Minor may have also been sharing his videos through a file sharing service used by child pornographers.
The Sheriff’s Department is encouraging parents to use precautions with their children, and discuss safety measures with them. “Exercise universal precautions with your children,” Commander Sommer warns. “As safe as you think they are, you’re never 100% completely safe from intrusion, especially with the technology out there and devices just like the one [Minor] had.”
Minor has been charged with one count of stalking a minor, two counts of using minors in a pornographic work, and four counts of possessing child pornography. If convicted on all counts, he could face up to 50 years in prison.
