GRAND FORKS, N.D. – A Grand Forks man faces two felony charges after he allegedly was caught promoting or directing an obscene performance of a minor and luring a minor.
Malaun Nelson was charged Friday in Grand Forks County District Court on two felony counts – Use of a Minor in a Sexual Performance, a Class A Felony, and Luring Minors by Computer or Other Electronic Means, a Class B Felony. According to court documents obtained by Flag Family News, Nelson was a paraprofessional with Grand Forks Public Schools when he began communicating with minor students through the social media app Snapchat.
A declaration of probable cause said Nelson told a 13-year-old boy, through Snapchat, that ‘he sends people money for content on Snapchat.’ Nelson sent the child a chart with a description of the type of content and payment he would provide to the boy, which included nudity and sexually explicit material that Nelson said was ‘r/x rated.’
The boy provided authorities with a photo sent by Nelson through Snapchat of a sex toy described as a pocket pussy.
Nelson eventually solicited sexual content from the boy, which was sent via Snapchat to Nelson from the boy in the exchange for $146. The content included images of the boy shirtless, images of his ‘private parts’ and a video from the boy of the private parts.
A search warrant was executed at Nelson’s home earlier this week, which turned up items of evidence, including the sex toy and two cellular phones. Multiple images and videos of unidentified age-difficult males were found, including images of the boy.
Nelson appeared Friday in court for his initial appearance.
