The Stearns County Attorney’s Office has charged Dennis Michael Lemke, DOB 8/30/65, with multiple counts of Criminal Sexual Conduct in the First and Second Degrees involving 9 separate victims, arising out of events alleged to have occurred between 2001 and 2007 at Lemke’s former residence in south St. Cloud. In early 2007 federal authorities executed a search warrant at the residence, finding thousands of photographs of child pornography on Lemke’s computer. Lemke’s wife had run a day care out of their home until that time; the day care closed shortly after execution of the federal warrant. Lemke was then charged in federal district court with Manufacture of Child Pornography, to which he pled guilty and was sentenced to 30 years imprisonment in July, 2009. Upon completion of the federal proceedings, state charges regarding the content of some of the photographs have now been filed.
Lemke had no criminal history prior to the federal investigation; federal authorities eventually made the contents of their investigation available to the St. Cloud Police in early 2008, at which time the local investigation into the contents and events shown in the photos began. Families of victims have been advised of the status of the local matters as the federal proceedings have progressed. Stearns County will now initiate the procedural process to return Lemke from federal custody to answer to these charges. As court dates are set, they will be available on the Stearns County website under “Criminal Case Search”.
This investigation has been exceptionally broad and time consuming. Respect for the families and victims involved is requested.
Further questions may be directed to Janelle Kendall at the Stearns County Attorney’s Office at 320-656-3880 or.