A 36-year-old Burnsville school employee was arrested after he showed up to meet someone he believed was a teen girl in Chanhassen, according to a criminal complaint filed in Carver County.

Brian Stewart Gay faces two felony charges: soliciting a child through electronic communication to engage in sexual conduct and engaging in electronic communication describing sexual conduct with a child. The complaint was filed April 3.

According to the complaint, a Carver County Sheriff’s detective was running an undercover child solicitation operation on social media in March 2026. The detective created an undercover profile using photos of a young-looking female.

On March 4, Gay messaged the undercover profile on Reddit asking how her week was going and whether she was open to new friends. On March 25, the undercover officer responded and told Gay she was a teen.

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Gay continued messaging and quickly turned the conversation sexual. He asked the undercover profile about meeting up, discussed “kink” and offered to “teach” and “train” the person he believed was a teenager. Over the following days, Gay sent increasingly explicit messages describing specific sexual acts he wanted to perform and discussed plans to meet.

Gay also told the undercover officer he previously had a sexual relationship with a teen when he was 20.

On April 2, Gay arranged to meet the undercover officer at a specified location in Chanhassen. He arrived at approximately 6:51 p.m. and was arrested. Officers sent a text message to the phone they had been communicating with and confirmed it was received on Gay’s phone.

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After waiving his Miranda rights, Gay admitted he had been engaging in text and Reddit conversations with the undercover profile. He claimed the other person had initiated the sexual discussions.

The complaint identifies Gay as a paraprofessional at Burnsville Step Academy.

Gay’s first court appearance is set for April 10 and he remains in custody at the Carver County Jail. Both charges are felonies.