A St. Peter man faces 18 felonies for alleged possession of child pornography.
Benjamin John Emley, 26, was recently charged in Nicollet County District Court.
A criminal complaint states Homeland Security began investigating a “dark net website” used to buy child porn using cryptocurrency in 2019. Agents subpoenaed payment information from the site and allegedly traced purchases back to Emley.
The purchases reportedly included sexually explicit videos of minor girls.
Law enforcement officers used a search warrant on Emley’s residence on Feb. 1, 2022, seizing hard drives and a cellphone. In all, the complaint states, about 1,290 images and videos suspected to contain child pornography were on the hard drives and phone.
Police say Emley provided a statement Feb. 1 confirming he obtained child pornography from the website. He reportedly said he used cryptocurrency for two such transactions.
A review of the material later confirmed 98 images and 22 videos were known to be child pornography files, according to the complaint.
Emley’s 18 felony charges indicate the pornographic material included minors younger than 14 and 13 years old.
His first appearance in Nicollet County District Court is set for June 6.