Olmsted County Jail worker Mathew Adamson charged with trying to solicit sex from undercover officers posing as girls
ROCHESTER, Minn. — Mathew Adamson, a detention corporal at Olmsted County's jail in Rochester, is accused of soliciting children for sex.
The Olmsted County Attorney's Office says Adamson, 44, is charged with one count each of hiring an underage prostitute, soliciting a child for sex via electronic means, and engaging in electronic communication to discuss sex with a child.
The criminal complaint states that Adamson began corresponding online on Nov. 1 with an undercover Rochester police officer posing as a 13-year-old girl. Adamson is alleged to have offered her alcohol in exchange for sex.
The complaint says that at the same time, Adamson also started talking online with whom he believed was a 14-year-old girl. In reality, it was an undercover special agent with the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension.
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Adamson is accused of sending the agent a photo of his face and work boots. The agent was able to identify Adamson's location in the photo as the interior of an Olmsted County courtroom. Adamson also asked both the officer and the agent if they would want to meet up in person, according to the complaint.
The undercover officer agreed to meet with Adamson in person the next evening at a location in Rochester. The complaint states that surveillance camera footage showed Adamson leave his workplace, the Olmsted County Adult Detention Center, and then drive to the meet-up spot.
The complaint says a person acting as a decoy was spotted by Adamson at the location, and he called out to her. Officers then "moved in and placed the defendant under arrest," the complaint states.
The Olmsted County Sheriff's Office says Adamson has worked with the agency for 18 years, and has been placed on standard administrative leave.
If convicted, Adamson could face up to 30 years in prison.
