Starbuck Man Arrested On 5 Felony Charges For Child Pornography Distribution

MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) - The Pope County Sheriff's Office arrested 47-year-old Stephan Talmedge Gadbaw for five felony charges of distribution of child pornography.

According to the Pope County Sheriff's Office, authorities received a tip on Wednesday from the National Center of Missing and Exploited Children that an individual was uploading and sharing child pornographic images and videos on a messaging app called KIK.

The Sheriff's Office investigated the tip, identify the individual as Gadbaw, and located him living in the City of Starbuck. Later Wednesday police executed a search and Gadbaw was located inside the residence sleeping. There were four children, as well as his wife, in the home when officers arrived.

Officers confiscated Gadbaw's phone and found a total of 42 videos and photographs used for sharing on KIK.

Gadbaw confirmed that only his family had access to his wifi and that no one had access to his personal cellphone but him. He also admitted to creating the KIK account in question and the email account attached to it.

Gadbaw appeared in Pope County Court on Friday to face five felony charges of distribution of child pornography and is being held on a $50,000 unconditional release or $2,000 conditional release bail.

Law enforcement encourages anyone with information on the exploitation of youth to report it to their local law enforcement agency.