Kevin James Petroske, 36, of Hibbing, Minnesota, was sentenced to 240 months in federal prison for producing, attempting to produce, and possessing child pornography—crimes rooted in a pattern of predatory surveillance. A jury convicted Petroske on August 30, 2017, after a three-day trial that laid bare a years-long campaign of voyeurism and sexual exploitation targeting minor girls in their own homes.
At trial, federal prosecutors proved Petroske recorded hundreds of secret videos between October 2011 and September 2015, peering through bedroom and bathroom windows to capture unsuspecting victims in private moments. The videos, recovered from a laptop seized during a search of his residence, often included audio of Petroske masturbating and making lewd comments as he filmed the minors without consent or knowledge.
The investigation began on October 23, 2015, when law enforcement responded to reports of a man spying through the windows of a home in Hibbing. Officers quickly identified the suspect as Petroske—a repeat offender with a felony stalking conviction in Stearns County and an open child pornography investigation in Benton County at the time of his arrest.
Following his apprehension, a search warrant led to the discovery of the incriminating digital evidence. Prosecutors presented overwhelming proof that Petroske not only collected child pornography but actively created it through clandestine recordings, leading to convictions on three counts of production and attempted production, five counts of attempted production, and one count of possession of child pornography.
The case was prosecuted under Project Safe Childhood, the Department of Justice’s nationwide initiative to combat child sexual exploitation. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Manda M. Sertich and Melinda A. Williams handled the prosecution, emphasizing the predatory nature of Petroske’s actions and the lasting trauma inflicted on the victims.
U.S. District Judge Patrick J. Schiltz handed down the 20-year sentence in Minneapolis federal court, followed by 10 years of supervised release. The investigation was conducted by the FBI, the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension, and the Hibbing Police Department. For more on Project Safe Childhood, visit www.projectsafechildhood.gov.
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Key Facts
- State: Minnesota
- Agency: DOJ USAO
- Category: Sex Crimes
- Source: Official Source ↗
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