FILLMORE COUNTY, Minn. – A Preston, Minn., man who was charged with 12 counts of child pornography last year won’t spend any time in prison. Instead, he will do 10 years of probation and pay a $140 fine, KAAL TV first reported.
According to a criminal complaint, 49-year-old Rick James Gavin was charged in September 2021 with two counts of using minors in pornography and 10 counts of possessing child pornography.
The complaint says he took videos of two victims, one under the age of 10 and another under the age of seven, and then superimposed images of genitalia over screenshots of the videos. He also created a video of himself masturbating to images of the two victims, according to the complaint.
The victims referred to Gavin as “Pooh Bear” and one of them had been to his house, charges say.
In addition, Gavin was in possession of sexually-graphic images of nude children, the complaint says. The images included a victim as young as one year old, according to the complaint.
Under a plea deal, Gavin pleaded guilty to one possession count and the remaining 11 counts were dismissed, court records show. He was also granted a stay of imposition by Judge Matthew Opat, meaning his conviction will be reduced to a misdemeanor if he successfully completes his 10 years of probation. Opat was appointed to the bench in 2013 by former Democratic Gov. Mark Dayton.
Gavin is required to register as a predatory offender and must also complete 10 days of community service.
This article originally appeared at Alpha News.
