Man faces child porn charges for videos

A Cloquet man is facing multiple felony charges after police found he had shared illegal pornographic videos featuring children on social media in 2020.

Jaypee Selorico, 36, was arrested earlier this month and faces eight charges relating to the possession and dissemination of pornographic work, including two charges for pornographic work featuring a minor under the age of 13.

Selorico appeared virtually in Sixth District Carlton County court on March 9 before judge Rebekka Stumme. Stumme set bail at $10,000 cash or $100,000 bond.

According to the criminal complaint, the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC) received an automated report from Facebook that four videos that may have been child pornography had been uploaded between June and August 2020 by a Facebook account under the name of “Rin Zu.” NCMEC referred the videos and IP addresses to the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension in October of 2020. In response to a subpoena, Century Link indicated the IP addresses all resolved to a house on the 100 block of 11th Street in Cloquet.

In December 2020, the case was referred to the Cloquet Police Department. Officers viewed the four videos and suspected that at least three of them portrayed minor children.

In an interview with police on Dec. 22, 2020, Selorico allegedly said he was a part of a Facebook group whose purpose was to share pornography, and admitted finding child pornography videos on the Facebook group and sharing them over Facebook Messenger with others between 15 and 100 times, he allegedly said.

Police executed a search warrant on Dec. 28, 2020. The homeowner said Selorico lived in the basement. While searching his sleeping area, officers found a laptop and two cell phones. Three of the charges pertain to possession of pornography on a computer.

Carlton County attorney Lauri Ketola said the case was “a process,” and it took a long time to get from the initial discovery by Facebook to pressing charges this month.

After the Cloquet police department searched Selorico’s residence, they had to send the electronics to the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension and then an expert opinion was sought to determine how young they were. A child abuse pediatrician who viewed the videos said he was confident that three of the videos showed children under the age of 18, including two with prepubescent girls engaged in sex acts with adult men.

If Selorico is found guilty of knowingly disseminating child pornography, the maximum sentence is 15 years in prison or a $20,000 fine. His next appearance is set for March 21.