Minneapolis Man Arrested on Child Pornography Charges

Ralph S. Boelter, special agent in charge of the Minneapolis FBI office, today announced the federal arrest of Ivan Wayne Tencate, age 47, of Minneapolis, Minnesota. Since February 2009, an individual using the screen name “iten10,” identified by online undercover FBI agents, had been conversing and trading images, of what was determined to be child pornography, online using Internet Relay Chat (IRC) and file sharing software. On Thursday, March 11, 2010, an online undercover agent made contact with “iten10,” who was sharing child pornography. Through investigation, it was determined that “iten10” was utilizing a wireless IP address associated with a coffee shop on 3rd Avenue South in Minneapolis. Subsequent surveillance by FBI agents identified an individual, later identified as Tencate, utilizing the file sharing software from inside the coffee shop, and he was taken into custody without incident at approximately 4:00 p.m.

On Friday, March 12, 2010, a federal criminal complaint was filed in United States District Court, District of Minnesota, St. Paul, Minnesota, charging Ivan Wayne Tencate with possessing, transporting, and distributing child pornography. Also on Friday, Tencate made his initial appearance in United States District Court, St. Paul, Minnesota where he was ordered detained pending a detention hearing scheduled for 3:15 p.m. in St. Paul.

This case was investigated by the FBI/ U.S. Secret Service Minnesota Cyber Crime Task Force. The United States Attorney’s Office, District of Minnesota is prosecuting this case.

The charges in a federal criminal complaint are merely an accusation and defendants are presumed innocent until they are proven guilty.