Carlton man faces federal pornography charges

A Carlton man charged with possessing and creating pornographic work of children is now facing federal charges which carry a much higher mandatory minimum sentence, according to Carlton County Attorney Lauri Ketola.

Stephan Jeremiah Hansen, 29, made his initial appearance May 26 in U.S. District Court in Duluth on four charges of production and attempted production of child pornography. The indictment describes four images of naked minor girls. Key to the federal charges is the use of materials that had been “mailed, shipped and transported to interstate and foreign countries by any means, including by computer.”

Hansen still faces 16 criminal sexual conduct and pornography charges in state district court, but the case is on hold for now as the federal case progresses. The state charges include five counts of felony second-degree criminal sexual conduct with a victim under the age of 16, five counts of possessing pornographic work of a minor under 14, five counts of using a minor under 14 in sexual performance/pornographic work and one count of first-degree criminal sexual conduct, penetration or contact with a minor under the age of 14.

According to the criminal complaint filed in the Carlton County case last July, law enforcement began investigating Hansen after a report was made about a nonconsensual picture taken of a juvenile male in a bathroom stall at the Minnesota Children’s Museum. That led police to Hansen and his phone, which contained 99 images and eight videos of pornographic images and videos of children.

In the complaint, police said Hansen later admitted that he had sexually abused the children, mostly when they were in the age range of 3 to 7, and taken pictures and recorded videos.

An omnibus hearing was held for the state charges online last Wednesday, June 21, and postponed because of the federal case. Ketola said she anticipates the state case to resolve and be moved to federal jurisdiction at some point, but for now the state case is still open and the omnibus hearing rescheduled for July 31.

Ketola explained the mandatory minimum sentence for the federal charges is 15 years each, versus 24 months each for the state charges.

A motions hearing is scheduled in the federal case on Aug. 7 in the U.S. Courthouse in Duluth. Hansen had been in the Carlton County jail from the time he was arrested until he was transferred to jail in Superior, Wisconsin, after the federal charges were filed May 25.

The date for the federal trial has not been determined. The trial will likely be held in the U.S. Courthouse in St. Paul before U.S. District Judge Jerry W. Blackwell.