A lawyer for former Sawyer superintendent Charles Soper, 51, argued Friday that he should not have been charged with Class AA felony human trafficking. Soper is facing charges for allegedly having a sexual relationship with a year-old boy and allegedly arranging for the boy to have three-way sexual encounters with himself and other adult men. According to a police affidavit, Soper and the boy first met on Grindr, a dating app for gays, in November and the two met and had sex 11 times between November and March On most occasions, the sexual encounters included different adult men, the boy told police.
Soper was charged in May with luring a minor by computer, a Class C felony; corruption or solicitation of a minor, a Class C felony; and human trafficking, a Class AA felony.
He is also facing separate charges for possession of certain materials, a Class C felony, and possession of drug paraphernalia, a Class A misdemeanor. He has pleaded not guilty to all the charges. During a hearing on Friday before North Central District Court Judge Doug Mattson, attorney Eric Baumann argued that the human trafficking charge should be dismissed or, alternatively, that incarceration may not be imposed or, alternatively, that any potential sentence on the charge should be limited.
Baumann said the state Legislature revised the human trafficking statute to clarify that there must be a commercial element to human trafficking.
Soper was charged under the version of the statute that was in effect at the time, which Baumann argues had vague language and was over broad. Baumann said there is no accusation that any money changed hands during any of the alleged sexual encounters between Soper and the year-old boy and other men. The transporting that was alleged amounted to Soper allegedly giving the boy rides within the city limits, said Baumann. Baumann said the Class C felony corruption or solicitation of a minor charge better fits the circumstances of the case.
