Rochester Man Accused of Using Cryptocurrency to Purchase Child Pornography

Rochester, MN (KROC-AM News)- A Rochester man accused of using cryptocurrency to purchase child pornography is now facing a felony charge. 

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The criminal complaint, filed in Olmsted County Court on Wednesday, alleges the father of two made multiple purchases. 

Rochester police were made aware of the alleged purchases last week. 

Rochester Man Charged with Possession of Child Pornography Following Tip from Coinbase

29-year-old Glen Venter is charged with one count of possession of child pornography.

Information received by Rochester police indicated he owned a Coinbase account that was used in “dark-web”purchases the child sexual abuse material.

The complaint also alleges that Vetter’s account was used in attempted purchases of child sexual abuse material. 

Coinbase provided Rochester police with information indicating Venter had made four cryptocurrency payments to a dark web site that’s known to sell child pornography on February 4 and February 6. 

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The complaint also says information from Coinbase indicates Venter attempted three other payments to dark web sites on February 4, but those payments were blocked by the crypto currency company. 

Prior Cyber Tips

During the investigation, police learned Venter was the subject of three child sexual abuse material cybertips that came from Facebook in in September 2022, December 2022, and July 2024, the court document says. 

Those tips were traced to an account based in South Africa.

Police also learned of cyber tips involving Venter that were made by Google and Snapchat. The tips were connected to accounts in Rochester, according to the complaint. 

Search Warrant Executed

On Tuesday, police executed a search warrant at Venter’s home in northwest Rochester and stopped Venter in a vehicle. Law enforcement seized a pair of phones after stopping Venter. 

While speaking to detectives, Venter eventually admitted to viewing child sexual abuse material since 2015 and using coinbase to buy the sexually explicit content of children, the complaint says. 

He also confirmed accessing the dark web sites that were included in previous information received by Rochester police, according to the court document. 

Venter’s first court appearance in the case has not yet been scheduled. Olmsted County Adult Detention Center records indicate he was booked into the Olmsted County Jail Tuesday morning.