Charges: Historic Rochester Child Sex Cyber Crime Case Involved 150+ Victims, Spanned Multiple Countries

Rochester, MN (KROC-AM News)- The Olmsted County Attorney’s Office has charged the man arrested in what the Rochester Police Department described as a historic cyber crime case. 

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Rochester Police Department announced the arrest resulting from an investigation conducted by the Rochester Police Technology Forensic Unit on Wednesday. 

The criminal complaint in the case, field in Olmsted County Court on Thursday, reveals the scope and tactics used in the alleged child cyber sex crime case. 

Charges: 150+ Minor Victims Identified in Historic Rochester, MN Cyber Sex Crime Case

Rochester police first learned of the alleged criminal activity through a cyber tip received last October. Investigators traced the account information in the tip to the home of 43-year-old John Timmerman, the charges say. 

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In November, investigators executed a search warrant at Timmerman’s home and seized a personal phone and two work phones from the Rochester man. 

A search of the work phone revealed dozens of Facebook accounts and multiple Instagram accounts impersonating a minor that were set up by Timmerman, the court document alleges. 

He would then begin messaging accounts of other minors, who ranged in age from 8-17. The complaint details multiple message chains in which Timmerman would ask the victims to send sexually explicit images and videos of themselves. 

Timmerman would then threaten to share the explicit files with people known to the victims, the charges allege. 

State and local law enforcement identified 169 victims. They resided in Olmsted County and elsewhere in the United States.

Other victims are from Canada, the United Kingdom, Nigeria and other countries, the charges say. 

The charges accuse him of soliciting the images and extorting the young victims from November of 2023 through December of 2024. 

Investigators also found 116 files depicting child sexual abuse material. Some of the victims in the files are under the age of 13, the complaint says. 

Timmerman is charged with 13 felony counts including use of minors in pornographic work, possession of pornography depicting a child under the age of 14 and soliciting a child through electronic communication to engage in sexual conduct. 

Conditional bail for Timmerman was set at $150,000. He is due back in court next month.