In a case that has rattled a Brooklyn Park school community, a former counselor has been ordered to spend 90 days in the Hennepin County workhouse after secretly recording a 13-year-old student changing clothes in his classroom before a game.
On Monday, a judge sentenced 50-year-old Jason Polzin to 90 days in custody and three years of probation after he pleaded guilty to interference with the privacy of a minor. The girl told investigators she discovered a phone pointed at her while she changed before a softball game on April 17, 2024, confronted Polzin, and then deleted the video. The incident has parents and local officials pressing schools and prosecutors on how hidden recordings of minors are handled and punished.
Sentencing and plea
Polzin pleaded guilty last month to one felony count of interference with the privacy of a minor. A judge then imposed the 90-day workhouse term and three years of probation, according to CBS Minnesota.
Court filings cited in reporting say the case began after school staff were told a student had been recorded. According to those records, the video captured Polzin looking toward the door before placing his phone and angling it toward the spot where the girl would be changing.
Evidence seized in search
Investigators later executed a search warrant at Polzin’s home in Prior Lake and seized multiple electronic devices. A forensic review turned up 52 photos of the girl, most taken in his school office, and about 165 images that placed her face on computer-generated female bodies, some nude or in lingerie, as reported by the Star Tribune.
Documents in the court record state that after the girl found the phone recording her, she deleted the video and later reported what happened to school personnel, according to Alpha News.
School response
Maranatha Christian Academy says it placed Polzin on administrative leave as soon as administrators were told about the allegations on May 23, 2024, and then fired him on June 3, 2024, the school told KSTP.
School leaders said they are cooperating with Brooklyn Park police, working alongside investigators while trying to support students who may be shaken by the news.
Legal context
Under Minnesota law, it is illegal to secretly record someone in a place where they have a reasonable expectation of privacy, such as a changing area, under Minn. Stat. § 609.746. The statute, available through the Minnesota Revisor of Statutes, classifies interference with the privacy of a minor as a felony that can carry a maximum sentence of up to four years in prison.
Reporting on similar cases has noted that actual sentences are often shaped by the specific facts of the case and a defendant’s criminal history, which is part of why outcomes can vary widely even under the same statute.
What happens now
Brooklyn Park police say detectives worked with school officials and the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension during the investigation, and the city issued a public notice when Polzin was arrested. The department is still urging anyone with additional information to come forward, according to the Brooklyn Park Police Department.
Officials and child-safety advocates are directing parents and guardians to resources such as the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children and local child-protection agencies for help, support, and options for reporting concerns.
