MINNESOTA
Duluth News Tribune
By Tom Olsen on Oct 5, 2016
Prosecutors have dropped the remaining child pornography charge against a Hibbing priest who was found not guilty this summer of inappropriately touching four girls.
A Hibbing jury in June acquitted Brian Michael Lederer on six counts of criminal sexual conduct.
However, he still was facing potential prosecution on the felony child pornography charge, which a judge earlier ruled would have to be tried as a separate issue.
In a dismissal letter filed Friday in State District Court, Assistant St. Louis County Attorney Jeff Vlatkovich explained that, at trial, the state would have had to prove not only that there were images of child pornography on Lederer’s computer but that the defendant “intentionally viewed” the photographs.
“A large number of pornographic images, some of which appeared to be of adults and what appeared to be children, unclothed or partially clothed engaging in sexual activity, were found on the defendant’s computer,” the prosecutor wrote.
“However, after considering the expert opinions, it has been determined that insufficient evidence exists to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that the defendant intentionally viewed the images which are believed to be children under the age of eighteen years old.”
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