A Fridley man who faced eight counts of possessing child pornography following a multi-state investigation by Homeland Security, and who also admitted to investigators after his arrest that he had previously molested one of his own children, will not go to prison.
Trent Lowell Rolfzen was charged in Anoka County in August after a federal search warrant was executed at his residence on the 100 block of Logan Parkway Northeast in the city of Fridley, MN. The search revealed a laptop computer containing over 300 videos of suspected child pornography, some with children as young as toddlers, according to the original criminal complaint.
Other videos described in the criminal complaint contained graphic images of minor males being sexually abused who appeared to be approximately 6 to 12 years old.
After his arrest, Rolfzen admitted to investigators that he used various software and communication applications to view child pornography approximately 50 times and stated that some of the victims were as young as toddlers. The complaint stated that Rolfzen also admitted to molesting one of his own children in the past, and that it had been reported in Hennepin County. No prior conviction for child sexual abuse can be found in online court records for Rolfzen.
Rolfzen was originally charged with two counts of possession of pornographic work involving minors, but the criminal complaint was subsequently amended to add six more counts – for a total of eight felony counts.
Rolfzen pleaded guilty to five of the eight counts in October and was sentenced in this week in Anoka County court.
On the five-count conviction, Rolfzen was sentenced to 15, 20, 25, 30 and 46 months in prison, respectively. However, the prison sentence on each count was stayed – not executed – by Judge Kristin C. Larson.
The Minnesota Sentencing Guidelines Grid for Sex Offenders presumes stayed sentences on convictions for possession of child pornography for offenders with a criminal history score of zero to three. A check of court records reveals no prior felony convictions for Rolfzen, which would leave him with a presumed criminal history score of zero at the time of sentencing on the child porn charges.
According to the court record, each conviction on Rolfzen’s five counts earned a graduated sentence as outlined on the grid. However, even the fifth count which earned the 46-month sentence, which the grid recommends as a “presumptive commitment to state imprisonment,” was stayed by Judge Larson under what is termed as a “dispositional departure.”
Rolfzen, 45, was instead sentenced to 180 days in the workhouse on each of the five counts and the sentences were ordered to be served concurrently – at the same time. The other three felony counts were dismissed at sentencing.
According to court records, Rolfzen is scheduled to begin serving his workhouse sentence on March 23. Under Minnesota statute, offenders are only required to serve two-thirds of their sentence incarcerated and the remainder on supervised release.
Rolfzen will receive credit for 61 days already served in jail, leaving him with 59 days left to serve under the two-thirds rule, and he will be placed on supervised probation for a term of five years.
Rolfzen is required to register as a predatory offender and will be required to notify employers, landlords, significant others and immediate family members of his conviction history. Rolfzen will be subject to several other probation conditions and is ordered to pay $450 to the Anoka County Sexual Assault Victim Fund.
The original investigation was conducted by the US Department of Homeland Security with subsequent assistance from the Fridley Police Department.
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Minnesota Crime Watch & Information publishes news, info and commentary about crime, public safety and livability issues in Minneapolis, the Twin Cities and greater Minnesota.
Crime Watch MN
Minnesota Crime Watch & Information publishes news, info and commentary about crime, public safety and livability issues in Minneapolis, the Twin Cities and Greater Minnesota.
