Kyle Skow, 39, of St. Augusta, is due back in Stearns County District Court on September 21 in a case involving 20 felony charges. He was arrested Friday, September 11, and booked into the Stearns County jail on an outstanding warrant. The charges are allegations, and Skow is presumed innocent unless proven guilty in court.
The charges, as described in WJON’s report on the criminal complaint, include 19 counts of soliciting a child through electronic communications to engage in sexual conduct and one count of possessing child sexual abuse material.
What the complaint alleges
The criminal complaint alleges that the investigation began after the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children sent three CyberTipline reports to the St. Cloud Police Department in December 2024. Investigators allegedly linked Snapchat accounts identified in those reports to an internet address associated with Skow.
Investigators allegedly reviewed communications connected to the accounts and identified suspected solicitation involving children ages 9 to 14, according to the complaint as reported by WJON. The complaint also alleges that a tablet associated with Skow contained conversations with additional children and that devices connected to him contained child sexual abuse material.
The complaint further alleges that a search warrant at Skow’s property turned up clothing and bed sheets resembling items visible in videos he allegedly sent. Those claims are allegations in the charging document and have not been tested at trial.
Minnesota’s role in CyberTipline investigations
The Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension says its Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force serves as the statewide clearinghouse for CyberTipline reports received by the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children when they have a Minnesota connection. The Minnesota Department of Public Safety says the task force also provides investigative, forensic, training, and technical assistance to law-enforcement agencies handling online child-exploitation cases.
What CyberTipline reports measure
According to the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children, the CyberTipline received 20.5 million reports in 2024, down from 36.2 million in 2023. The organization said bundled reports and changes in platform reporting affected the totals, so the figures do not represent a simple count of individual incidents or confirmed crimes. The National Center for Missing & Exploited Children says CyberTipline reports are referred to the law-enforcement agency best positioned to respond. They therefore serve as investigative leads involving suspected exploitation, rather than confirmed findings of criminal conduct.
