Tentative Plea Deal For Rochester Man Charged in Child Porn Case

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Rochester, MN (KROC-AM News) - A tentative plea agreement has been worked out by Olmsted County prosecutors and a Rochester man charged with multiple counts of possessing child pornography.

24-year-old Dalton Berndt was charged in April with three felony counts of possession of child pornography. The criminal complaint says Rochester police launched an investigation after cyber tips involving suspected child sexual abuse materials that were connected to an email address and IP address linked to Berndt.

That led to the execution of a search warrant last August and the seizure of two laptop computers in the cell phone. The criminal complaint says 185 videos and images of suspected child sexual abuse materials were found on the devices.

The court document indicates Berndt agreed to give a statement to investigators and told them he had been looking at child pornography for a couple of months. He also stated that he deleted everything "after serving on a grand jury for similar offenses." He also admitted that he exchanged the illegal materials with other people online.

The criminal complaint alleges the dozens of videos and images included files depicting the sexual abuse of infants and children under 2 years old.

The tentative plea agreement calls on Berndt to enter guilty pleas for two of the three charges he faces. The prosecution has agreed to recommend a stayed prison sentence and up to five years probation as his punishment. A hearing has been scheduled for next month to finalize the plea deal.