Wayzata Man Charged With Solicitation of Child in Stearns County

ST. CLOUD (WJON News) -- A Wayzata man is the latest Minnesota man to be charged with child solicitation in Stearns County.

Sixty-three-year-old Blake Middleton is charged with three felony counts involving the sexual solicitation of a child.

Court records show Middleton logged on to a chat room known for the solicitation of children and messaged an undercover officer posing as a 15-year-old girl.  Middleton is accused of initiating the conversation in October and grooming whom he thought was a 15-year-old girl. He indicated he was a 53-year-old man.

The conversation allegedly turned sexual when the undercover investigator said Middleton began discussing a previous sexual encounter with a different underage girl.

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According to the criminal complaint, Middleton is accused of sending pictures of his genitalia, soliciting whom he thought was a teenage girl for sexual acts, and sending videos of sexual acts with a female who he says was a 16-year-old girl.

The investigation also allegedly uncovered a conversation in July where Middleton was corresponding in the chat room with the same undercover officer who was using a different screen name at that time.

Middleton has his next court hearing scheduled for December 12th.