Former Minnesota reserve sheriff pleads guilty in child sex abuse material case – CBS News

By WCCO Staff Updated on: July 21, 2026 / 7:56 PM CDT / CBS Minnesota Add CBS News on Google A 29-year-old former reserve deputy for a northern Minnesota county pleaded guilty Monday to spreading child sexual abuse material via Snapchat , according to the Isanti County Attorney’s Office. Tyler Pettit, from Isle, was charged in 2024 with four counts of disseminating pornographic material involving children 14 and younger. Pettit was a volunteer, non-sworn reserve deputy for Mille Lacs County, and had also worked at a group home where children lived. According to court documents, the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children alerted the sheriff’s office in May 2024 that a Snapchat account tied to one of Pettit’s email addresses uploaded four videos to another user a month earlier showing boys as young as 8 being abused. Investigators from both Mille Lacs and Isanti counties also uncovered online messages where Pettit pretended to be a boy and stated his sexual attraction to children, the complaint states. Back in 2024, Sheriff Kyle Burton announced he had arrested Pettit himself, adding he “felt that it was important that that come from me, that as the sheriff, I’m going to hold you
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