Assistant Principal Facing Sexual Conduct Charges
The public's assistance has been requested by the Beltrami County Sheriff's Office
BELTRAMI COUNTY, Minn. – Assistant Principal of Bemidji Middle School was placed in custody at the Beltrami County Jail, on Thursday, March 22.
Brandon Bjerkness, 34, has been charged with two counts of solicitation of children to engage in sexual
Brandon Bjerkness
Beltrami County Jail
conduct. He has been contacting juvenile children through Facebook, Snapchat, and email accounts he had set up using a false identity.
He used the name of Brett Larson, a 13-year-old male, attending school at Morgan Park in Duluth, which has been closed for several years now.
Court documents stated that authorities conducted a search warrant and found he had been communicating with two juvenile females ages 13 and 14 years of age. Both victims admitted they engaged in conversations with “Brett Larson” via Snapchat stating they were sexual in nature. Based upon the information on Bjerkness’ phone, it appeared that the conversations with the two victims occurred throughout March 2017.
The Beltrami County Sheriff’s Office is asking parents to talk with their children and determine if they have had any contact with “Brett Larson” on any of the listed social media accounts. If so, contact the sheriff’s office at 218-333-9111 and ask to speak with an investigator.
The Bemidji School District Officials assisted the Beltrami Sheriff’s investigators with this investigation. This investigation is on-going and no further details have been released.
