Lyle sex offender sentenced to more than 4 years for child pornography offenses
William Ecklund / Mower County Jail Roster
(ABC 6 News) – A Lyle teenager was sentenced to 53 months — about 4.4 years — at the MN Correctional Facility in St. Cloud Thursday, Oct. 3.
William John Eklund, 18, pleaded guilty to possessing and sharing child pornography as a predatory offender.
Ecklund will receive credit for 149 days already spent in custody.
Judge Kevin Siefken ordered the defendent to spend 5 years on probation after his release. Twelve other child pornography charges and a count of felon in possession of a firearm were dismissed at sentencing.
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(ABC 6 News) – A Lyle teenager pleaded guilty to one charge each of predatory offender disseminating and possessing child pornography in Mower County Court.
William John Eklund, 18, has been registered as a predatory offender since 2019, according to court documents, when he was convicted of sexual conduct with a child under age 13.
He was accused of three counts of disseminating child pornography and 11 counts of possessing it earlier this year, as well as one charge of felon in possession of a firearm.
According to Eklund’s plea agreement, the remaining 13 charges will be dismissed at sentencing, and he will receive a “bottom of the box” sentence — a light sentence within Minnesota’s sentencing guidelines.
According to the 2023 Minnesota Sentencing Guidelines, there does not appear to be a mandatory jail or prison sentence for possession or dissemination of child pornography.
Eklund’s sentencing, currently assigned to judge Kevin Siefken, is scheduled for Oct. 3, 2024.
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(ABC 6 News) – A Lyle teenager faces 15 Mower County charges after multiple cyber tips allegedly implicated him in a child pornography investigation.
William John Eklund, 18, has been registered as a predatory offender since 2019, according to court documents, when he was convicted of sexual conduct with a child under age 13.
Eklund faces three charges of disseminating child pornography–registered predatory offender, minor under 14 and 11 charges of possessing a pornographic work–registered predatory offender, minor under 14.
Eklund also faces one charge of felon in possession of a firearm.
Current Mower County charges
According to court documents filed Thursday, May 9, on March 28, the Mower County Sheriff’s Office began receiving cyber tips from the Minnesota Internet Crimes Against Children (ICAC) Task Force alleging that Eklund was uploading child pornography to a Snapchat account with the username “williameklund.”
Another tip alleged that an Instagram account-holder with the username “weklund111605” uploaded suspected child pornography, and sent several files to an allegedly 17-year-old account-holder.
Court documents allege that several of the files involved children under age 10.
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According to court documents, one of the IP addresses associated with the accounts used to send the child pornography files belonged to Southland Senior High School.
According to court documents, Mower County law enforcement searched Eklund’s residence on May 6, where Eklund confirmed that he holds the Instagram account in the cyber tips, then allegedly claimed his accounts had been hacked and declined to speak with detectives further.
Law enforcement allegedly seized five laptops, a smart phone, a digital camera, four computer towers, four jump drives, and 37 rounds of live ammunition from Eklund’s room.
He is currently held in the Mower County jail on $50,000 bail with conditions, or $150,000 bail with no conditions.
Ongoing investigation
Court documents allege Eklund communicated by Snapchat with other child sex offenders, including a suspect in a recent Steele County 1st-degree criminal sexual conduct case involving a juvenile victim.
According to court documents, Mower County deputies received other data from Ecklund’s accounts, much of which is still under investigation.
According to court documents, another cybertip alleged that a Tik Tok account using Eklund’s account information was involved in online enticement of children for sex acts. Court documents state that further investigation into that cybertip is ongoing.
Eklund is scheduled to appear in Mower County Court again May 20.