CROOKSTON, Minn. (trfnews.i234.me) – An undercover prostitution sting by the Crookston Police Department led to the arrest of a professor at UND and the Mayor of Solway, Minnesota, after officials say they attempted to meet who they thought was a 16-year-old girl. Court documents also say they were attempting to pay the decoy for sex.
The Crookston Police Department, along with other law enforcement agencies, posted advertisements on two websites commonly used for soliciting commercial sex. In the ad, they claimed to be a girl named “Amber” and listed a phone number, which received several calls and texts.
According to court documents, one of the people who texted “Amber” went by Bob and asked if she would “like company” and he would “really want to come see you.” Bob, who was later revealed to be Solway Mayor Robert Coulter, asked “Amber” about how much she charged and was told that she was at her mom’s house in Crookston. Coulter asked if “Amber” (who was Crookston Police Officer David Grabowski) if she was alone. When she said yes, he asked for a location and said he would start driving her way. “Amber” then revealed that she was 16. Bob initially indicated that he was going to call things off because of her age and disengaged with the conversation. He texted back a few minutes later to confirm the rates that she would charge for sex, and said that he was on his way. The decoy asked Coulter if he was bringing a condom. In response, Coulter said: “If that is what you want, then I will bring it.”
The documents then say he arrived at the address a little before 4:00 P.M. on May 28, exited his car, and approached the address. He was arrested upon entering the house. When police searched him, they found $120 in cash. They found his cell phone in the car and confirmed that it was the same one used to text “Amber”. After being advised of his rights, Coulter said that he came to Crookston to talk to the girl and was only going to talk to her about what she was doing. He also said he brought the cash to give it to the girl for her time, so that she would talk with him.
Coulter, who was also identified in the documents as a corrections agent on the Minnesota Department of Corrections’ Community Services Directory, is charged with Prostitution of someone he believed to be under 18. That’s a felony with a maximum charge of five years in prison, a $10,000 fine, or both.
The same listing also got a response from Qianli Chu, a Chemistry Professor at the University of North Dakota. Court Documents say Chu initiated the conversation with “Amber” with a text that said he would like to see her tonight. They agreed on a price for an hour. The decoy also texted Chu asking if he would bring a condom, to which he said “yes”. The decoy then gave the address and confirmed that she was 16 years old and “clean”. Chu’s response to that information was “Great,” and that he is “a nice and clean gentleman.”
Chu arrived at the address in Crookston and was arrested once he entered the house. When he was searched, police found $599 in cash, condoms, and the same cell phone used to text “Amber”. He is also charged with Prostitution of someone he believed to be under 18.