Dassel man sentenced to 12 years for sex abuse, porn

LITCHFIELD - A 24-year-old Dassel man was sentenced Thursday to 150 months, or 12½ years, in prison on multiple felony counts of criminal sexual conduct, the use or a minor in pornographic work, possession of pornography and possession of weapons by an individual convicted of a violent crime for sexually abusing and making videos of a girl for 10 years and for possessing guns found in his residence.
Nathan Charles Robert Schwartz’s sentence was handed down by District Judge David Mennis. Schwartz was also ordered to serve a 10-year conditional release period, according to Meeker County Attorney Tony Spector.
Schwartz also faces another set of criminal sexual conduct charges, which are set for trial in September, and an assault trial May 28, for a misdemeanor fifth-degree assault on another inmate in the Meeker County Jail. That incident occurred Jan. 2 and involved Schwartz allegedly assaulting a man who called Schwartz out on his criminal sexual conduct.
The initial investigation began in September 2012, when investigators received information that a girl, now 15, had been abused by Schwartz for years at a rural Dassel residence.
She also told investigators that Schwartz touched her private body parts and made her touch his private parts, plus made her dance nearly naked in front of a video camera and for photographs.
The videos and photographs were recovered when investigators executed a search warrant on Schwartz’s computer. Two guns were also recovered from the home when the warrant was served on Schwartz’s residence. The investigation revealed that Schwartz had purchased the guns at a Hutchinson gun show and photos on the computer showed him with the weapon.
He was a registered predatory offender, having been adjudicated delinquent in 2008 on a second-degree criminal sexual conduct charge and therefore not eligible to possess firearms.