COTTAGE GROVE - A Maple Grove man is accused of responding to a 16-year-old girl’s online ad offering to exchange sex for money.
Corwin Thomas Moose, 43, was charged last week in Washington County with two counts of prostitution of a minor. He is scheduled to appear in court Oct. 15 in Stillwater. The victim, who is from Cottage Grove, told investigators she had placed the ad because she was in desperate need of money, according to the criminal complaint.
Moose - who is listed in the complaint as weighing almost 400 pounds - gave the teenager $80 in exchange for sex at her house and nude pictures.
Any minor involved in sex trafficking is treated as a victim, and the 16-year-old is safe now, Washington County Attorney Pete Orput said.
He said he wants other teenagers who may find themselves in a desperate situation to know they can reach out for help. “We will not be treating them as criminals, and we will not be shaming them. We will be helping them along,” he said.
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According to the complaint: The Minneapolis Crimes Against Children unit began investigating after finding the Aug. 27 ad about two weeks after it ran. They reached out to the victim and learned that Moose had asked her if they could meet for a second time.
With the 16-year-old’s permission, an investigator posed as the victim and exchanged 164 text messages with Moose in a 24-hour period.
Moose agreed to meet her every other week and give her $100 in exchange for sex. He initially wanted to meet at her home again, but changed his mind when he found out she was not 18 years old.
They arranged for Moose to pick her up at a Cottage Grove gas station and then go to his home.
Police met him at the gas station and arrested him. In his vehicle, they found a large empty suitcase, rubber gloves, and a new tarp lining the trunk. Those items are being considered in the investigation, Washington County Attorney Pete Orput said.
Police also discovered that Moose did not have the $100 when he arrived at the gas station, Orput said.
While carrying out a search warrant for Moose’s house, investigators found eight computers that are being searching for evidence.
