{"id":10920,"date":"2026-01-16T16:05:02","date_gmt":"2026-01-16T22:05:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/trfnews.i234.me\/wordpress\/?p=10920"},"modified":"2026-01-16T16:05:02","modified_gmt":"2026-01-16T22:05:02","slug":"thief-river-falls-man-charged-in-online-sex-sting","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/trfnews.i234.me\/wordpress\/thief-river-falls-man-charged-in-online-sex-sting\/","title":{"rendered":"Thief River Falls Man Charged in Online Sex Sting"},"content":{"rendered":"

Thief River Falls (trfnews.i234.me<\/a>) \u2014 A Thief River Falls man is charged in Pennington County District Court.<\/p>\n

Erick Sean Hartung, 26, faces a felony count of electronic solicitation of a child.<\/p>\n

He was arrested after an online sting, according to a criminal complaint.<\/p>\n

What the complaint says<\/h2>\n

Investigators say a sheriff\u2019s deputy posed as a 15-year-old girl online.<\/p>\n

The deputy used the MeetMe and Kik apps, the complaint says.<\/p>\n

Hartung allegedly contacted the profile on Nov. 30.<\/p>\n

The conversation later moved to Kik on Dec. 29, according to the complaint.<\/p>\n

Hartung allegedly discussed sexual conduct during the chats.<\/p>\n

Investigators say he also tried to set up a meeting.<\/p>\n

\"Erick
Erick Sean Hartung<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Planned meeting and traffic stop<\/h2>\n

On Monday, Jan. 12, Hartung allegedly asked the \u201cgirl\u201d to meet that night.<\/p>\n

He also asked if he should bring a condom, the complaint says.<\/p>\n

They first agreed to meet at Lions Park in Thief River Falls.<\/p>\n

The plan later shifted near the dam by Discovery Place on Nora Street.<\/p>\n

An investigator went to the area and watched for the suspect vehicle.<\/p>\n

The complaint says the vehicle left Lions Park and parked nearby.<\/p>\n

Messages continued while officers watched the area, the complaint says.<\/p>\n

After more messages, the vehicle returned toward the meeting spot.<\/p>\n

A deputy stopped the vehicle near Pennington Avenue and Greenwood Street.<\/p>\n

Hartung was arrested, according to the complaint.<\/p>\n

He allegedly said he planned to report the \u201cgirl\u201d as a scammer.<\/p>\n

He also said he would not meet her for sex, the complaint says.<\/p>\n

What happens next<\/h2>\n

Investigators later interviewed Hartung at the law enforcement center.<\/p>\n

He allegedly admitted the chats turned sexual, the complaint says.<\/p>\n

He also said he knew the \u201cgirl\u201d was 15, according to investigators.<\/p>\n

Hartung allegedly deleted the apps during the traffic stop.<\/p>\n

Details on the charge can be found in Minnesota Statute 609.352<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Public court files can also be searched through Minnesota Court Records Online (MCRO)<\/a>.<\/p>\n

To report suspected child exploitation, visit the NCMEC CyberTipline<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Hartung is presumed innocent unless proven guilty in court.<\/p>\n

I\u2019m Chris Harper reporting for TRF News<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Thief River Falls (trfnews.i234.me) \u2014 A Thief River Falls man is charged in Pennington County District Court. Erick Sean Hartung, 26, faces a felony count of electronic solicitation of a child. He was arrested after an online sting, according to a criminal complaint. What the complaint says Investigators say a sheriff\u2019s deputy posed as a… Continue reading Thief River Falls Man Charged in Online Sex Sting<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":10923,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_wpscp_schedule_draft_date":"","_wpscp_schedule_republish_date":"","_wpscppro_advance_schedule":false,"_wpscppro_advance_schedule_date":"","_wpscppro_dont_share_socialmedia":null,"_wpscppro_custom_social_share_image":0,"_facebook_share_type":"default","_twitter_share_type":"default","_linkedin_share_type":"default","_pinterest_share_type":"default","_linkedin_share_type_page":"","_instagram_share_type":"default","_medium_share_type":"default","_threads_share_type":"default","_google_business_share_type":"default","_selected_social_profile":[],"_wpsp_enable_custom_social_template":false,"_wpsp_social_scheduling":{"enabled":false,"datetime":null,"platforms":[],"status":"template_only","dateOption":"today","timeOption":"now","customDays":"","customHours":"","customDate":"","customTime":"","schedulingType":"absolute"},"_wpsp_active_default_template":true},"categories":[12],"tags":[770,772,9597,9592,9470,827,9594,9596,151,3245,9595,9473,9593,303,777,1293,824,794,5691,825,778],"class_list":["post-10920","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-crime","tag-charged","tag-crime","tag-discovery-place","tag-electronic-solicitation","tag-erick-sean-hartung","tag-falls","tag-kik","tag-lions-park","tag-man","tag-mcro","tag-meetme","tag-minnesota-statute-609-352","tag-online-sex-sting","tag-online","tag-pennington-county","tag-pennington-county-district-court","tag-river","tag-sex","tag-sting","tag-thief","tag-thief-river-falls","entry"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/trfnews.i234.me\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10920","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/trfnews.i234.me\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/trfnews.i234.me\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/trfnews.i234.me\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/trfnews.i234.me\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=10920"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/trfnews.i234.me\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10920\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":10925,"href":"https:\/\/trfnews.i234.me\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10920\/revisions\/10925"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/trfnews.i234.me\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/10923"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/trfnews.i234.me\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=10920"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/trfnews.i234.me\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=10920"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/trfnews.i234.me\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=10920"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}