Man enrolled as White Bear Lake student sought girls as young as 14, police say
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The investigation into the 22-year-old man who enrolled at White Bear Lake Area High School has evolved into a sprawling, multi-agency effort as the man is accused of “apparent predatory behavior” towards teen girls across the Twin Cities metro, according to White Bear police.
MPR News is not naming the man because he has yet to be charged with a crime related to his time at the school. White Bear Lake police chief Dale Hager previously told MPR News the department has not yet offered a case to prosecutors for charging consideration because there are “a lot of moving parts.”
White Bear Lake police and school leaders began investigating the man after at least one parent raised an alarm about his identity on Monday, Sept. 29.
More than two weeks later, court filings and social media posts offer insight into the scope of the case.
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Sex video with a possible minor
A search warrant in Ramsey County unsealed late last week outlines allegations of the man’s interest in underage girls.
In the first week of the investigation, a White Bear Lake police officer said he spoke to “numerous” teen girls who had contact with the man and had reportedly been concerned about his advances. The officer said there are ongoing investigations at other agencies, some of which involve sexual contact with girls under 16, and police have spoken with parents of teen girls as far south as Farmington, Minn.
Two parents had previously filed restraining orders against the man on behalf of their 17-year-old daughters. In one, an hour north in Sherburne County, a woman said the man had dated her daughter. Another woman in Washington County filed on behalf of her daughter who she said received “sexually explicit material” from him.
The 22-year-old man’s “apparent predatory behavior involves ‘friending’ as many teens as he can, and then targeting girls he’s interested in via social media, some as young as 14, for sexual encounters at parties where alcohol is present,” reads the search warrant.
The man shared a sex video involving him and a possible minor with several teen girls, according to police, and primarily communicated with teen girls on Snapchat.
An officer wrote that in most of the White Bear Lake Area High School cases, girls had “rebuffed his advances and requests to hang out, get rides home, or go to their houses, and they blocked him on social media, after feeling badgered or coerced.”
Some had done their own research and discovered the man was “not in their peer group” so they had blocked him on social media, according to the document.
As of Tuesday evening, MPR News has yet to receive a response to a request for comment from the man, his family or public defenders listed in an unrelated case.
Police say man admits to using ‘incorrect’ alias
The man, who court documents say lives in Lino Lakes, told officers he has two birth certificates and enrolled at White Bear Lake Area High School using a Liberian birth certificate, according to search warrants. He enrolled with a different name and listed his birth year as 2007, not 2003. Police did find his Liberian birth certificate at the school.
In an Anoka County search warrant, White Bear Lake police revealed the man admitted to police that the birth certificate had an “incorrect name and date of birth.”
Police allege he referred to a foreign versus an “actual” Minnesota birth certificate.
Man assaulted in St. Paul
Videos circulating on Snapchat and TikTok show an incident where several young men kicked and berated the 22 year old. “Don’t sexually assault women, bro,” said a boy in one clip shared with MPR News.
St. Paul police confirmed the man was assaulted by multiple people sometime between Oct. 3 and Oct. 4 on the 1900 block of Maryland Avenue in St. Paul. Police were not called at the time of assault; someone reported it to the Cottage Grove Police Department afterwards.
“Investigators are currently working to determine the circumstances of this incident and identify those involved. There is no further information available at this time,” said St. Paul police spokesperson Alyssa Arcand in an email.
Stillwater Area High School issued ‘no trespass notice’
In one video on social media, the 22-year-old man is seen tearfully holding up a letter from Stillwater Area High School.
Carissa Keister, a spokesperson for the district, verified the letter to MPR News. She said Stillwater school leaders issued a no trespass notice to the man ahead of the school’s football game against White Bear Lake Area High School earlier in October. The man had never attended Stillwater — it was issued as an extra precaution, she said.
“Recently, you were enrolled as a student at White Bear Lake High School after using fraudulent and forged documentation indicating that you were a student from another country. As a 22 year old man, your interactions with minors in this capacity are both inappropriate and illegal. Your actions represented a significant danger to the White Bear Lake school community,” reads the letter.
Young people on social media have claimed the man had fraudulently enrolled at other schools. The following schools or districts have confirmed he was never enrolled there: Eagan High School/District 196, Blaine High School, Champlin Park High School/Anoka-Hennepin School District, Mahtomedi High School and St. Paul Public Schools.
The man had used his legal identity to enroll at Forest Lake Area High School and Centennial Area Learning Center, according to spokespeople for those districts. He was within state statutory age limits to attend those schools at the time.
Minnetonka Public Schools has yet to respond to an MPR News request for information.
Recap: timeline of events
2023: At age 20, the man reportedly sent nude photos to a 15-year-old girl in Mahtomedi.
March 2025: Man pleads guilty to one count of indecent exposure and is placed on probation for the 2023 incident.
Sept. 28 – Plymouth police pull over man for speeding in the early hours and discover outstanding warrants tied to theft and the 2023 case. Police take him into custody.
Sept. 29 – White Bear Lake students, school leaders and police learn in various ways that the man is in school with a fake identity.
Sept. 30 – White Bear Lake principal emails families about the man. State Rep. Elliot Engen, the Republican lawmaker representing the district, calls for the White Bear Lake superintendent to step down.
Oct. 2 – Man is released from jail with probation restored. White Bear Lake superintendent emails more details about the man to families.
Oct. 3 or 4 – Man is assaulted in St. Paul.
Correction (Oct. 16, 2025) — An earlier version of this story incorrectly identified the White Bear Lake school leader who emailed families on Sept. 30.
