By Shawn Hogendorf, Correspondent

PRIOR LAKE - Police are investigating a report of ongoing “sexting” communications between a 31-year-old Maple Lake, Minn. man and a 12-year-old Prior Lake girl.

As a result of an Apple Valley Police Department investigation into a separate harassment complaint, Prior Lake police received information that the man was sending and receiving text messages with the girl, Detective Chris Olson said.

During the investigation into the Dakota County case, investigators believed there were more victims of harassment, which led to seizure of the suspect’s phone, Olson said. When Apple Valley detectives checked the man’s phone, they found a Prior Lake cell phone number from which multiple messages were sent and received, he said.

That number belonged to the 12-year-old girl.

Police contacted the victim, who reported that she had been receiving graphic and sexual videos, still photos and text messages, Olson said. Multiple phone conversations also occurred between the man and the girl.

The messages on the girl’s phone have since been erased, Olson said. But her phone was sent to the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension so forensic work can be conducted in an attempt to retrieve the deleted messages.

On Nov. 10, police assisted the Apple Valley Police Department in the execution of a search warrant at the man’s home in Maple Lake, located in Wright County, Olson said. During the search, police seized several cell phones.

As a result of the search warrant, the man was arrested on a Minnesota Department of Corrections warrant for violating the terms of his parole, Olson said.

Because the case is an active investigation, some of the details are scarce.

The exact starting date of communications between the man and the girl is unknown at this point, Olson said. The phone records checked by Apple Valley police go back to June, but detectives are working to get subpoenas for the suspect’s phone records from the cell phone companies, he added.

It is also unclear at this point how the man came upon the victim’s phone number, Olson said. The reason the man was on parole is also unknown.

Olson said he has not looked into the man’s previous criminal history yet, as the investigation is in its beginning stages, but by virtue of a previous criminal conviction, for which the man was on parole with the Minnesota Department of Corrections, he was not supposed to be in possession of computers or cell phones, he said.

The man has not been charged with a crime in Scott County, but he remains in custody following his arrest for the parole violation.

Because of the forensic work involved in the case, it could take a while for charges to be filed, Olson said.

 Shawn Hogendorf can be reached at (952) 345-6374 or shogendorf@swpub.com.