Rice County Man Pleads Guilty to Child Pornography

A rural Rice County man Friday entered guilty pleas in Rice County District Court to three felony counts.  Ross Matthew Wenner, 38, entered the pleas to Criminal Sexual Predatory Conduct, Dissemination of Pornographic Work by a Registered Predatory Offender, and Possession of a Pornographic Work by a Registered Predatory Offender.

Seven additional felony counts were dismissed as part of a plea agreement.  Due to his criminal history, Wenner is expected to be sentenced to up to 21 years in prison and be on supervised release, or parole, for the rest of his life.  Sentencing is scheduled for May 19, 2020.

Rice County Attorney John Fossum says Wenner was previously convicted of Criminal Sexual Conduct, Kidnapping and Burglary offenses which required him to register as a predatory offender and made the current offenses more serious.

Wenner was released from prison as a level three sex offender under Department of Corrections supervision in 2015.  He is currently in the custody of the Department of Corrections for his violations of supervised release.  Wenner was taken back into custody in 2018,

In a news release today Fossum, who prosecuted the case said, "Wenner is a dangerous offender who requires a lengthy sentence.  This resolution achieves that and will protect the community from Mr. Wenner for the foreseeable future, by keeping him in custody or on conditional release the rest of his life."

The Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension and Rice County Sheriff's Office investigated the case.  Fossum praised their efforts saying, "The work of our justice partners in investigating this case led to this successful conclusion."