Steele County judge amends Olmsted deputy’s bail conditions to allow internet use, visits with children
Mathew Adamson / Mower County Jail
(ABC 6 News) – An Olmsted County deputy arrested in a child solicitation sting was granted some internet use and visitation with his own children, pending CPS approval, in court Tuesday, Nov. 14.
Mathew Richard Adamson, 44, was arrested Nov. 2 after allegedly attempting to solicit sex from an undercover Rochester police officer posing as a young teen in a sting operation.
Adamson was also accused of beginning a suggestive conversation with a BCA agent posing as another young teenager.
He faces charges of felony solicitation of a child through electronic communication; engaging in prostitution with an individual under age 14; and electronic communication involving sexual conduct with a child.
According to Minnesota Court records, Adamson was booked into the Mower County Jail, then Byron bond company Lyke Bail Bonds secured his release Nov. 3.
Adamson’s $10,000 conditional bail included terms such as avoiding all contact with people under age 18, and no internet or social media use.
On Tuesday, defense attorney Zachary C. Bauer moved to allow Adamson to visit his children, both of whom are under age 18, as well as use the internet with a monitoring program such as “Covenant Eyes,” a religious business that attempts to curb use of pornography by surveilling electronic device use.
Bauer argued that Adamson needed to access the internet to apply for work and access banking materials.
Scott Springer, the assistant Mower County attorney prosecuting Adamson’s case, said that while Mower County’s Department of Corrections was able to monitor internet use by people convicted of crimes, staff were not equipped to monitor defendants ahead of trial.
“When the internet is the tool that you use to commit crimes, I think that is a reasonable condition,” Spring said.
Springer also said that with internet access, Adamson could potentially delete or destroy internet evidence, while Bauer said law enforcement had seized hard drives from Adamson’s home which should contain any necessary evidence, making destruction unlikely, if not impossible.
Steele County judge Joseph A. Bueltel ruled that Adamson could see his children, as long as Child Protective Services approves visits, and that he could access the internet with devices that Mower County downloaded monitoring services onto — but could not access social media, pornography sites, dating sites, escort services, or use any device without monitoring services installed.
Adamson’s next hearing was scheduled for 3:30 p.m. Wednesday, Jan. 24.