Trooper Faces State Charges for Sexual Assault of Infant Girl

May 5

A Minnesota state trooper arrested last week on federal child exploitation charges is now facing additional state charges.

Authorities allege he sexually assaulted a female infant and recorded it on video.

Jeremy Francis Plonski, 29, of Shakopee, is charged with first-degree criminal sexual conduct involving penetration of a child under 14 years old.

The state charge follows his arrest and indictment in a federal case involving the production of child sexual abuse material (CSAM).

PREVIOUSLY: Trooper Charged in Federal Child Porn Case

According to a criminal complaint filed May 2, federal agents in Houston, Texas, began a forensic review of a cellphone on April 30 as part of an investigation into CSAM. Agents located multiple videos, including one in which allegedly shows Plonski sexually assaulting an identified infant girl. The complaint states that both Plonski’s and the victim’s faces are clearly visible in the footage, which appears to have been created in April 2023. Authorities have not disclosed whether the child victim is known to Plonski.

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Plonski, interviewed the same day by agents with the FBI and Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension, admitted to filming and distributing several videos of himself sexually abusing the infant. He told investigators the abuse occurred in 2022 at his residence in Shakopee and that he was directed to perform the acts by a person he had met on the social media app Kik. He described the relationship with the individual as dominant-submissive and said he was instructed to send videos showing the abuse.

Plonski reportedly acknowledged making “four or five” such videos. Law enforcement later executed a search warrant at Plonski’s home and confirmed the setting matched the backgrounds seen in the videos, the complaint states.

He remains in federal custody following his indictment for producing CSAM and is now also subject to a warrant in the state case. Scott County prosecutors are seeking to prosecute the state case once federal proceedings conclude.

State Patrol Chief Christina Bogojevic called the allegations "appalling and indefensible,” saying it was a serious violation of the law and human decency.

Bogojevic said an internal affairs investigation is underway and Plonski is on leave. He joined the State Patrol in 2022.

The felony charge in Scott County carries a potential sentence of 12 to 30 years in prison and a $40,000 fine. The federal charge carries a mandatory minimum sentence of fifteen years in prison if he is convicted.

Plonski remains in federal custody pending a detention hearing.

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