Charges: Minnesota Man Sent Sexually Explicit Messages to Rochester Officer Posing as Fake Teen Girl

Rochester, MN (KROC-AM News)- A Wyoming, MN man is facing charges for sexually explicit messages sent to a Rochester police officer. 

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The criminal complaint, filed in Olmsted County Court Tuesday morning, says the undercover operation started last September. 

Law enforcement made an arrest in the case on Monday. 

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Minnesota Man Facing Felony Charges For Sexaully Explicit Messages Sent to Rochester Officer Posing as 14-Year-Old Girl

46-year-old Ben Michael Joseph Ross is charged with one count of soliciting a child to engage in sexual acts through electronic communication and a count of engaging in electronic communication relating to or describing sexual conduct with a child. 

Ross is accused of sending two messages to the undercover account on September 3. The officer then responded and eventually told Ross they were a 14-year-old girl, the complaint says. 

Ross then asked the fake teen about her sexual history, the charges allege. The conversations became more sexually explicit with Ross initiating them until his arrest, the court document says. 

Following his arrest, Ross admitted to having sexually explicit conversations with the fake 14-year-old girl. At one point Ross said he had a hotel room and that they “could do anything,” the complaint says.

Ross is scheduled to make his first court appearance on Tuesday morning.