Former middle school employee pleads guilty to child sextortion scheme

A Coon Rapids man who worked as a paraprofessional in special education pleaded guilty Tuesday to a sextortion scheme that targeted minors through social media apps and gaming forums.

Glen Robert Anderson, 24, pleaded guilty to two counts of production of child pornography, one count of enticement of a minor and one count of interstate communications with intent to extort, according to a news release from the Minnesota U.S. Attorney’s Office.

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Court documents state that Anderson used multiple internet applications in order to groom minors into performing sexual acts with him to produce child pornography. He used multiple accounts to contact minors through email, Snapchat and Grindr and also ran an online gaming forum.

Anderson allegedly used his position as a gaming forum administrator to coerce children with in-game perks, privileges and other gifts. In one instance, Anderson is accused of using a teenage victim to produce explicit sexual content and threatening to release that content if the victim did not answer his demands.

The online gaming forum owned and administered by Anderson required participants to complete applications that divulged their ages, according to the release.

Anderson has been ordered to remain in detention pending his sentencing date, which is set for Oct. 25.