Sentencing date set for Lyle 18-year-old charged in child pornography case
Published 10:01 am Monday, July 8, 2024
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A sentencing date has been sent for the 18-year-old from Lyle, who was charged in May with 15 felony counts, 14 of which include charges related to child pornography.
William John Eklund will face sentencing on Oct. 3 after appearing in Mower County District Court Monday morning, where he agreed to plead guilty to two felony counts of dissemination of pornographic work as a registered predatory. The pleas come as part of a plea agreement petition to the court on June 27.
According to the agreement, Eklund would have to sit for PSI and psychosexual evaluation as well as joint agreement for bottom of the box sentencing. It also states that Eklund would not be seeking to depart from sentencing guidelines.
In turn the 13 remaining charges would be dropped.
Eklund, who has prior convictions for first degree criminal sexual conduct with a person under the age of 13, came on the Mower County Sheriff’s Office’s radar after a detective received notice from the Minnesota International Crimes against Children Task Force and the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children on March 28 regarding a pair of tips.
According to court documents, the tips included the upload and dissemination of suspected child sexual abuse material on Oct. 20-21 and came from Snapchat and Instagram.
Through a third cybertip, Eklund was also allegedly involved in online enticement of children for sex acts.