Former St. Paul School Teacher Sentenced to 25 Years for Producing and Possessing Child Pornography

A 49-year-old former foster care provider and special education teacher in the St. Paul Public School District was sentenced earlier today in federal court in Minneapolis for producing and possessing child pornography. United States District Court Judge Joan N. Ericksen sentenced Gregg Alan Larsen, of Minneapolis, to 25 years in prison on one count of production of child pornography and one count of possession of child pornography. Larsen was indicted on May 20, 2010, and pleaded guilty on July 8, 2010.

In imposing the lengthy sentence, Judge Ericksen said, "A legal system that would not send you to prison for a long time is a legal system our society could not respect." The sentence was handed down following remarks to the court by the father of one of the young victims as well as by one of Larsen's adopted sons, both of whom described the abuse of trust and emotional damage caused by Larsen's actions.

After sentencing, U.S. Attorney B. Todd Jones said, "As a teacher and foster parent, the defendant was a trusted member of the school district and the community. As stated in court, he violated that trust by preying on innocent children. Such behavior will not be tolerated, as evidenced by the sentence imposed this morning."

In his plea agreement, Larsen admitted to abusing a position of trust by creating pornography of the children in his care. In April of 2006, he took digital photographs of one minor engaged in sexually explicit conduct. The child was younger than 12 years of age at the time. Larsen also admitted that he intended to distribute those images via the Internet. Then, from June through July of 2006, Larsen produced digital pornographic photographs of a second child, also younger than 12 years of age, again with the intent to distribute the photos through the Internet. Moreover, on July 1, 2009, Larsen admittedly possessed eight video files containing child pornography, as well as more than 600 images of child pornography. Those items were stored on Larsen's home computer.

Following sentencing, Ralph S. Boelter, Special Agent in Charge of the Minneapolis FBI Office, said the FBI remains committed to protecting the public from those criminals who produce and distribute child pornography through the Internet. For more information about these efforts, please visit the Department's Project Safe Childhood website, at www.projectsafechildhood.gov.

This case was the result of an investigation by the Minnesota Cyber Crime Task Force, sponsored by the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the U.S. Secret Service. It was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney David P. Steinkamp.