Sauk Centre Man Sentenced to More Than 19 Years in Prison for Producing Child Pornography

MINNEAPOLIS – A Sauk Centre man has been sentenced to 235 months in prison followed by 10 years of supervised release for coercing minors to produce sexually explicit images, announced United States Attorney Andrew M. Luger.

According to court documents, Shawn Norbert Kulzer, 32, began chatting with a minor victim on Snapchat on or about January 2, 2023. Over the course of their conversation, Kulzer learned that the minor victim was under the age of 18, yet still pressured them to send nude photographs. In his plea agreement, Kulzer also admitted that he used and enticed a second minor victim to produce and send sexually explicit images over Snapchat. While on pretrial release for these charges, Kulzer obtained another cell phone and engaged in the same behavior with at least six additional victims.    

On March 14, 2024, Kulzer pleaded guilty in U.S. District Court before Judge Nancy E. Brasel to one count of production and attempted production of child pornography.  At sentencing, Judge Brasel noted that Kulzer’s offense is “the nightmare that every parent thinks of when they think of online behavior involving their children.” 

This case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice. Led by U.S. Attorneys’ Offices and the Criminal Division’s Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section, Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state, and local resources to better locate, apprehend and prosecute individuals who exploit children in crimes involving child pornography, as well as to identify and rescue victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit www.projectsafechildhood.gov.

This case is the result of an investigation led by the FBI, the Stearns County Sheriff’s Office, and the Sauk Centre Police Department.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Emily Polachek prosecuted the case.