Ramsey County deputy accused of explicitly messaging minors told police it would be "career ender," charges say
A Ramsey County deputy is accused of sending explicit pictures and messages to people he believed to be children, according to charges filed Thursday.
Chadd Muellner, 34, faces two counts of engaging in electronic communication relating or describing sexual conduct with a child, court documents show. The Ramsey County Sheriff's Office said Muellner has been placed on administrative leave and an internal investigation is underway.
According to a criminal complaint, the East Metro Human Trafficking Task Force began chatting with someone using the name "Midwestguy0303" on the app KIK in March. Midwestguy0303 chatted with two different accounts operated by the task force. He allegedly sent explicit messages and pictures to both accounts, even after the recipients identified themselves as a 15-year-old girl and 15-year-old boy, respectively.
The complaint states Midwestguy0303 sent more than 500 messages and 78 media files on KIK from March 24-26.
Investigators found a phone number and email address associated with the KIK account, and eventually traced them to Muellner.
Muellner called police after they interviewed his parents, according to the complaint. He allegedly first said he used to have a KIK account but didn't anymore, then said the KIK messages "weren't him" and it could be a "career ender" for him.
Muellner then met with police and again said Midwestguy0303 was not his account, the complaint states. Officers checked out his phone, which was "visibly smashed and nearly inoperable," according to the complaint. He allegedly explained that by saying he lost his personal phone and started using an older, smashed phone.
When officers noted the phone "had just been through a factory reset," Muellner "became visibly flushed and was perspiring," the complaint states. He denied resetting it and blamed his parents, but later "admitted that he reset his phone because he was panicked," according to the complaint.
Before he was arrested, Muellner allegedly asked police if they could make an exception for him. After arresting him, authorities sent messages to Midwestguy03030, but they were never viewed, according to the complaint.
Police spoke to Muellner's girlfriend, who said he had chatted with other people on adult sites before.
According to the sheriff's office, Mullner was a correctional officer in the Ramsey County Jail for two years before serving as a deputy for the last nine.
If you know of a child who may have been a victim of exploitation, call the National Center for Missing or Exploited Children at 1-800-843-5678 or visit the website.
