St. Augusta Man Charged with Soliciting Children Online, Victims Found in Five Countries

(KNSI) – A 39-year-old St. Augusta man is facing 20 felony charges after investigators say he spent nearly a year soliciting dozens of children online for sexually explicit content, with victims traced to five countries.

The Stearns County Attorney’s Office filed the charges, including 19 counts of soliciting a child through electronic communication and one count of possessing child sexual abuse material, against Kyle Skow.

According to the criminal complaint, the investigation began in December 2024 when a St. Cloud Police investigator followed up on three cyber tips from the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children. The tips led investigators to Snapchat accounts registered to an IP address at Skow’s residence in St. Augusta.

Court documents say Snapchat turned over more than 3,000 messages between the accounts and dozens of children, some as young as eight, spanning from March 2024 to March 2025. Investigators say the messages show a repeated pattern of Skow asking children to send explicit images and describing sexual acts. Victims who identified their ages ranged from eight to 14 and were traced to Norway, Mexico, France, Jamaica, and the United States.

A search warrant executed at Skow’s home in March 2025 turned up a fourth Snapchat account with additional exchanges, along with physical evidence investigators say matched items seen in videos. Investigators say they found roughly 1,200 suspected child sexual abuse material images on his devices. The FBI and the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children are still working to identify victims.

Skow lived with his parents at the St. Augusta address. Court documents say law enforcement moved to file charges before the investigation was complete, citing ongoing public safety concerns.

Judge Shan Wang set non-cash bond with conditions at $250,000, or cash bail with conditions at $25,000. Skow is free on bail. His next court hearing is September 21st.

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