Minnesota Man Pleads Guilty to Producing Child Pornography and Threatening Victim

MINNEAPOLIS, MN – Michael Lee Kurkowski, a 28-year-old sex offender from Owatonna, pleaded guilty to producing sexually explicit images of a minor and sending graphic threats detailing a murder plot against his former child sexual abuse victim.

According to court documents, law enforcement in Cumberland County, Pennsylvania, began investigating Kurkowski in March 2021 regarding the communication and exchange of sexually explicit images of a minor. The investigation revealed that Kurkowski traveled to Pennsylvania to locate the minor and to try to continue a ‘relationship’ after the minor attempted to end the online communications.

Kurkowski was previously convicted in Cumberland County, Pennsylvania, of corruption of a minor related to the sexual exploitation of the minor and was sentenced to 142 days in prison followed by probation. His probation conditions required him to register as a sex offender, not to contact his victim, to refrain from behavior which may present a danger to others, and not to possess any weapons.

However, in November 2021, law enforcement began investigating Kurkowski’s online communications and sexual exploitation of another minor victim. Investigators reviewed several messages from Kurkowski to the minor describing in graphic detail a plan to travel to Pennsylvania where Kurkowski would murder the parents of his former victim, rape his sister, and then kill her in front of his former victim.

Kurkowski pleaded guilty today in U.S. District Court before Judge Joan N. Ericksen to one count of threatening interstate communication and one count of production of child pornography. A sentencing hearing will be scheduled at a later date.

The case is the result of an investigation conducted by the FBI, the Owatonna Police Department, Steele County Community Corrections, the Upper Allen Township (Pennsylvania) Police Department, the East Peoria (Illinois) Police Department, Watertown (Wisconsin) Police Department, Toledo (Ohio) Police Department, and the Cedar Falls (Iowa) Police Department.

Assistant U.S. Attorneys Chelsea A. Walcker and Laura M. Provinzino are prosecuting the case.

Additionally, NCMEC’s peer support network, Team HOPE, can provide support, empowerment, and resources to families of missing or exploited children from people who have experienced a similar trauma. If you’d like to connect with someone for emotional support, email: gethelp@ncmec.org or call: 1-877-446-2632 ext. 6117.

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