| [February 17, 2010] |
Mankato man arrested in child porn sting: Release from jail comes with conditions
MANKATO, Feb 17, 2010 (The Free Press – McClatchy-Tribune Information Services via COMTEX) — An Internet investigation that allegedly found dozens of pictures showing pre- teen children involved in sexual acts has resulted in the arrest of a 19year- old Mankato man.
Zen Loren Albrecht was arrested at his mobile home in the 1000 block of Belle Avenue Friday after he gave investigators permission to search his computer. He appeared Tuesday in Blue Earth County District Court, where he learned he is facing 20 felony charges for collecting and disseminating child pornography.
Investigators had already searched another house in Mankato, owned by an Albrecht relative, and a house in Le Hillier, owned by another relative, before learning Zen Albrecht had moved to the High Ciara mobile home court in January. Zen Albrecht had been living with both relatives before he moved.
The investigation started in September after a Minneapolis police officer, who works closely with the Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force, used special software to find the child pornography. He initially found a total of about 80 child pornography files, including pictures and at least one video, according to court records.
The titles of the files, shared through a peer- topeer networking system, included graphic descriptions of children in sexual situations.
With help from Charter Communications, the officer learned about 25 of the files were being stored on a computer at a Mankato residence and about 55 files were being stored on a computer in Le Hillier.
Charter Internet billing information led the task force investigator, as well as detectives from the Mankato Police Department and Blue Earth County Sheriff’s Department, to the houses owned by Albrecht’s relatives. Both houses were searched Friday.
A computer was confiscated from a house on Olive Street in Le Hillier. When the detectives searched a house on Pleasant Street, however, they were told Albrecht had taken the computer to his mobile home.
An agent from the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension also participated in the search. He was able to use a device to do preliminary searches on the computers, which allegedly showed they contained files that had been identified in previous investigations as child pornography.
Investigators were later told there were more than 100 pictures and more than 60 videos containing child pornography stored on the computers.
During his bail hearing Tuesday, Albrecht told Judge Kurt Johnson his only source of income was working as a substitute for someone who delivers newspapers.
Chris Rovney, assistant Blue Earth County attorney, requested that Albrecht be ordered to stay away from children and schools if he is released from jail. Johnson set Albrecht’s bail at $25,000 with those restrictions, as well as a requirements for GPS monitoring and no computer access, as conditions.
” The defendant is inimical to public safety and any release without those conditions would concern me,” Rovney said.