Court news: Detroit Lakes man gets over six years prison for child pornography

Christopher Damien Gessell, 43, of Detroit Lakes has been sentenced in Becker County District Court for felony possession of pornographic works involving children.

According to court records, in April of 2020, a Detroit Lakes Police Department investigator reviewed information received from several organizations regarding the possession of child pornography by Gessell.

The investigation revealed the following. On Dec. 13, 2019, the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children received a CyberTipline Report submitted by Google regarding “apparent child pornography.”

The report noted that on Dec. 9, 2019, Google became aware that a suspicious image had been stored in “Google Gmail infrastructure” associated with an account with the name “Chris Damian.”

A search in a law enforcement database for “Chris Damian” returned a result for Gessell and identified him as required to register as a predatory offender, residing in Detroit Lakes.

On July 23, 2020, the Minnesota Department of Corrections agent supervising Gerrell asked him about the image. He admitted to purchasing a phone from Walmart and downloading child pornography from Google Images.

In an interview the following day, Gessell told the agent that he used the phone to look at pornographic pictures of young girls, and that he viewed these images beginning sometime “late January through a little bit into April” and that he then smashed up the phone and threw it away. Gessell has eight prior convictions for possessing child pornography.

On Oct. 27, District Judge Jay Carlson sentenced Gessell to 75 months in prison at St. Cloud and ordered him to pay a $50 fine and $200 in court fees. He was ordered to register as a predatory offender.

Nathan Daniel Jones, 38, of Detroit Lakes has been sentenced in Becker County District Court for felony third-degree burglary.

According to court records, on Jan. 4, a Walmart asset protection worker saw Jones conceal trading cards and clothing items in a sweatshirt and tie the bottom shut. He also concealed trading cards in a table game box, after using a multi-purpose knife to open the tape on the box.

At the self-checkout, Jones began entering these items and initially denied concealing the items until the asset protection worker began removing them. The value of merchandise concealed was about $117.

On Oct. 27, District Judge Jay Carlson stayed imposition of sentence and placed Jones on supervised probation for five years. He was ordered to serve 45 days in jail, with credit for two days served, and can serve the rest of the time on electronic home monitoring at his own expense. Work release privileges were granted.

He was fined $1,000, plus $1,150 in court fees, and must get a a chemical dependency evaluation and follow the recommendations, including aftercare.

Patrick Michael Defoe, 19, of rural Ponsford has been sentenced in Becker County District Court for misdemeanor domestic assault.

A felony domestic assault by strangulation charge was dropped in a plea agreement.

According to court records, on May 20, officers were dispatched to a residence in Detroit Lakes on the report that Defoe was hitting his girlfriend and trying to take her phone. The woman was crying and told an officer that Defoe pushed her hard on the chest, causing her to fall to the floor, and then got on top of her and choked her using both hands.

She said she couldn’t breath for about 10 seconds, then managed to kick Defoe off her and he left the residence. Deputies observed a bump on the woman’s arm and redness on her neck and throat.

On Oct. 27 District Judge Gretchen Thilmony sentenced Defoe on the misdemeanor to 90 days in jail, all but eight days stayed two years and credit for eight days served. He was fined $100 plus $250 in court fees.

Defoe was also sentenced for misdemeanor violating a domestic abuse no-contact order. According to court records, on June 12 he went to a Detroit Lakes residence and argued with a woman who had a no-contact order against him. She called their moms and he fled before police arrived.

On that charge, he was sentenced to 90 days in jail, all but four days stayed two years and credit for four days served. He was fined $100 plus $250 in court fees.

Defoe was ordered to get a complete diagnostic assessment and a chemical dependency evaluation, and follow the recommendations, including aftercare. He must complete domestic abuse counseling/treatment, and was placed on supervised probation for two years.

Brady Jay Moran, 28, of Detroit Lakes has been sentenced in Becker County District Court for felony threats and two counts of misdemeanor domestic assault.

According to court records, on April 8, 2021, Detroit Lakes police responded to a woman who said Moran, her boyfriend, had hit her car with a hammer and threatened her.

She said that earlier in the evening, at the Walmart parking lot, they had been discussing a previous incident in which he had damaged her windshield. She said she left him at Walmart because he wasn’t acting normal and she didn’t feel safe around him.

She was later parked at a Detroit Lakes gas station when Moran pulled in front of her in another vehicle, blocking her from leaving. He got out carrying a hammer, and used it to damage her vehicle’s hood, a headlight, the front bumper, and a passenger-side wheel well. He also left several threatening Facetime voice messages.

When she was able to get away, she drove right to the police station to report it. He admitted to an officer that he broke a headlight and smashed the hood because he was angry about being left at Walmart, but said he did the damage with his hands, not a hammer. The officer observed no injuries to his hands.

On Oct. 27, District Judge Jay Carlson sentenced him on the felony charge to a year and a day in prison at St. Cloud, stayed five years. He was ordered to serve 66 days in jail, with credit for 66 days served, and was fined $500 plus $650 in court fees.

He was ordered to get a chemical dependency evaluation and follow the recommendations, including aftercare.

He was ordered to pay a $50 fine and $200 in court fees on each of the two misdemeanor charges, along with restitution. He was ordered to serve 90 days in jail, with credit for 90 days served.

A number of other charges were dropped in a plea agreement.