North Iowa Deputy Poses as Underage Girl Online, Thwarts Minnesota Predator

One month after a warrant was issued for his arrest, a Minnesota man is in custody after being accused of having sexual conversations with someone he believed to be a 14-year-old girl, but who was really a North Iowa sheriff’s deputy.

A criminal complaint filed in Winnebago County District Court accuses 46-year-old Brian Bauer of Nerstrand, Minnesota, of attempting to cause a law enforcement officer or agent posing as a minor to engage in prohibited acts between February 1st and March 24th of this year.  The complaint details several different alleged online conversations between the undercover deputy from the Winnebago County Sheriff’s Office and Bauer discussing sexual content, which included Bauer sending photos.

Bauer was arrested on April 23rd and charged with one count of sexual exploitation of a minor, a Class B felony punishable by up to 25 years in prison, and one count of grooming, a Class D felony. He also faces three counts of telephone dissemination of obscene material to a minor, all aggravated misdemeanors.

If convicted, he could face over three decades in prison.

Bauer is scheduled for an arraignment hearing May 6th in Winnebago County District Court.