Ex-Cottage Grove SRO pleads guilty to 7 criminal sexual conduct charges
Adam Gentile Pelton (Washington County Jail)
A former Cottage Grove school resource officer has pleaded guilty to more than a half-dozen charges of criminal sexual conduct.
Court records show 42-year-old Adam Gentile Pelton pleaded guilty Monday to three counts of second-degree criminal sexual conduct and four counts of fourth-degree criminal sexual conduct.
A criminal complaint states Apple Valley police started investigating reports of sexual contact at Park High School in Cottage Grove in October 2019 after female students said Pelton touched them over their clothing.
Students also reported Pelton for requesting nude pictures of Snapchat and making inappropriate comments, the complaint states.
After initially denying the charges, the complaint states Pelton said he requested nude pictures “as a joke.”
Pelton worked as a school resource officer (SRO) from 2016 through 2019, spending the 2018-19 school year at Park High School.
His sentencing is set for June 24.