Rochester Man Admits to Child Pornography Charge

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Rochester, MN (KROC-AM News) - A Rochester man today entered a guilty plea to a charge of possession of child pornography.

59-year-old Scott Collett was accused of downloading five computer files through a "peer-to-peer" file-sharing network that was being monitored by an investigator with the Minneapolis Police Department. According to court documents, the files contained depictions of boys as young as 8 to 10 years old engaged in sexual activity, and the downloads were linked to an IP address associated with Collett's residence in Rochester. The suspicious downloads occurred between August 2021 and September 2022.

The criminal complaint says the information gathered by the Minneapolis Police investigator was turned over to the Rochester Police Department, which obtained a search warrant for Colett, his home, and his car. Several electronic devices were removed from the home, and the court document says Collett gave a statement to an investigator during which he admitted accessing "obscene videos of prepubescent boys."

The criminal complaint also states that Collett was investigated in connection with the alleged dissemination of similar computer files containing suspected child sexual abuse material while he was living in Austin from 2019 through August 2021.

Collett is scheduled to be sentenced on November 13. The plea agreement recommends a suspended prison sentence and probation.