Convicted Chaska sex offender pleads guilty to child sex abuse charges after interacting with group posing as 13-year-old
A 51-year-old Chaska, Minnesota, man pleaded guilty Wednesday to child sex abuse charges — a crime he's been convicted of before.
Court documents show Michael Klappenbach pleaded guilty to two counts of possessing child sex abuse material, and one count each of distributing communication relating to sexual conduct to a child, soliciting a child through electronic communication and engaging in electronic communication relating to sexual conduct to a child.
Klappenbach was charged last December after interacting with a citizen group posing as a 13-year-old girl.
The group, Big Country's Predator Exposure, was created by Max Term with one goal: to catch child predators online after his daughter was groomed while playing an online game called Roblox.
"He reached out to her profile Nov. 20, through a Taylor Swift fan page," Term told WCCO in December.
According to the criminal complaint, Klappenbach told police he contacted a "young looking woman" on Facebook Messenger and admitted to having "sexual" conversations with her as well as other young girls.
Klappenbach's sentencing is scheduled for June 6. If his plea deal is accepted, he could serve nearly nine years in prison.
Note: The video above originally aired Dec. 3, 2024.
