Zimmerman Man Pleads Guilty to Soliciting a Child in Police Sting

ST. CLOUD -- A Zimmerman man charged with soliciting a child for sex in Stearns County has pleaded guilty.

Twenty-three-year-old Gunner Hoffard pleaded guilty to solicitation of a child to engage in sexual conduct. A second charge of using electronic communication to describe sexual conduct with a child has been dismissed as part of the plea agreement.

According to the charges, Hoffard made a friend request to a decoy account of a girl set up by the Central Minnesota Human Trafficking Task Force.

After the undercover officer accepted the friend request, Hoffard allegedly reached out and asked how old the girl was and the officer replied she was 15-years-old. Records show an ongoing conversation between the two where Hoffard asks for nude pictures of the girl and references sex acts.

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Police identified Hoffard as the account holder and arrested him at his job in Elk River.

He'll be sentenced on May 3rd.

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Filed Under: stearns county district court

Categories: courts, From the WJON Newsroom, St. Cloud News