Zimmerman Man Charged With Solicitation of a Minor After Alleged Inappropriate Snapchat Conversation

(KNSI) — A 23-year-old Zimmerman man is in the Stearns County jail, charged with solicitation of a minor and one other felony after he allegedly admitted to having an inappropriate conversation with who he thought was a teenaged girl on social media.

According to the criminal complaint, an investigator with the Central Minnesota Human trafficking Task Force received a Snapchat friend request on a decoy account from a profile named Gunnar Hoffard. The investigator’s decoy account had a profile picture of a female with blond hair and wearing a white tank top.

The investigator accepted the friend request, and the criminal complaint says Hoffard “immediately messaged” and asked what they were doing. The investigator, posing as a 15-year-old, asked Hoffard how old he was, and he said he was 23. He allegedly told the investigator he liked younger girls because “it’s easier to spoil them” and that he was looking for someone to “date, call, cuddle, kiss, maybe more. And maybe someone to be my little girl and cal (sic) me daddy.”

The criminal complaint says Hoffard asked for a selfie because he hadn’t seen what she looked like yet. The investigator sent a stock photo of a teen, to which Hoffard allegedly replied, saying the girl looked “sexy” and that she would be “amazing” at sex acts. He asked to see a nude picture to prove she wasn’t fake and said his “trust is low.” He then asked for a picture of her breasts before he got in the car to meet her and made a reference to sex, along with sending a photo of himself. He said sending a picture of her breasts was “not a huge deal” and asked for “just a bra pic.”

Hoffard said he wouldn’t come to see her unless she sent a “bra pic.” He said he needed to know the person he was talking to was real, then asked for another picture that wasn’t a nude but showed they were real. The investigator sent a picture of a girl in a bathing suit where the face is not shown, and the criminal complaint says, “You already saved it. You don’t wanna come here I get it,” and the conversation ends.

The investigator tracked down Hoffard, and on Tuesday, went to his place of employment and arrested him. He allegedly admitted in a statement to police that he was on Snapchat and had an “inappropriate” conversation. He allegedly said he remembered the person he was speaking with was 14 and said he was “not thinking straight” when speaking with her.

Hoffard has been charged with solicitation of a minor through electronic communication to engage in sexual conduct and engaging in electronic communication relating to or describing sexual conduct with a child.

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