Minnesota Man Charged with Attempted Production of Child Pornography

SIOUX FALLS - United States Attorney Alison J. Ramsdell announced that a federal grand jury has indicted an Elmore, Minnesota, man for two counts of Attempted Production of Child Pornography.

Mason Mensing, age 21, was indicted in November of 2022. He appeared before U.S. Magistrate Judge Veronica L. Duffy on December 7, 2022, and pleaded not guilty to the Indictment.

The maximum penalty upon conviction is up to 30 years in federal prison and/or a $250,000 fine, life of supervised release, and up to $200 to the Federal Crime Victims Fund. Restitution may also be ordered.

The Indictment alleges that between March 25, 2022, and April 4, 2022, and again between August 17, 2022, and August 19, 2022, Mensing knowingly attempted to persuade and induce two minor females to engage in sexually explicit conduct for the purpose of producing images of child pornography.

The charges are merely accusations and Mensing is presumed innocent until and unless proven guilty. 

The investigation is being conducted by Homeland Security Investigations, the Brookings Police Department, and the Faribault County Sheriff’s Office. Assistant U.S. Attorney Jeffrey C. Clapper is prosecuting the case.   

This case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse, launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice. Led by the U.S. Attorneys’ Offices and the DOJ’s Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section, Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state, and local resources to locate, apprehend, and prosecute individuals who exploit children, as well as identify and rescue victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit https://www.justice.gov/psc.

Mensing was remanded to the custody of the U.S. Marshals Service pending trial, which has been set for February 14, 2023.