A couple allegedly drove to Duluth from the St. Cloud area on Friday with the intention of having sexual intercourse with a 14-year-old girl they had met online.
Criminal charges filed Tuesday in State District Court also indicate that Phillip James Adkins, 34, and Kayla Marie Frank, 33, sent the teen a series of lewd photos, videos and messages through Facebook before arranging the meeting.
Adkins and Frank, who live in Rice, Minn., were arrested at a West Duluth motel on Friday evening after Duluth Police Department investigators were alerted to the planned meeting. They allegedly admitted that they had traveled to Duluth with the purpose of having sex with the teen, who they knew to be 14.
Both suspects are charged with a felony count of electronic solicitation of a child. Adkins also faces an additional count of soliciting a child to engage in sexual conduct.
Each charge carries a maximum sentence of three years in prison.
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Authorities said they opened the investigation after receiving information that Adkins and Frank were exchanging communication of a sexual nature with the girl through Facebook. The source of that information was not specified.
Investigators were able to obtain access to the girl's account and learned that she and Adkins began communicating on Jan. 5. The messages were initially just general conversation, but progressed to become "extremely sexual," according to a criminal complaint.
On Jan. 13, Adkins allegedly suggested that he and Frank show the teen "how to be sexually intimate with another person." That same day, he sent the girl two nude photographs and four videos that showed him engaged in a sexual act with Frank, the charges state.
Investigators said the Facebook conversations continued in the following weeks, with Adkins encouraging the teen to become friends with Frank. The messages allegedly turned "extremely graphic and sexual with offers from Defendant Frank to show (the victim) how to be sexually intimate with someone."
Both defendants allegedly had conversations with the teen about taking her and "stealing her away from her family." Investigators said Frank wrote that she "knew that they would get into trouble but that she would figure out a way to make it happen."
On Friday, Adkins and Frank traveled to Duluth and told the victim that they planned to be at the Super 8 motel, 4100 W. Superior St., by 5 p.m., according to the complaints. Investigators verified that the couple had a reservation there and waited in the lobby for them to arrive, arresting both on site.
Adkins allegedly admitted to police that he had sent the videos to the girl, who he knew to be 14, and had come to Duluth to have sex with her. He acknowledged that it was wrong and asked for help, according to the complaint.
Frank also confirmed that she had been exchanging messages with the girl, who she knew to be 14, the charges state. She allegedly admitted that the relationship had been started through Facebook and that they had traveled to Duluth to engage in sexual intercourse with the teen.
Frank remains on probation following a 2016 conviction for child neglect or endangerment in Sherburne County. Senior Judge Dennis Murphy set her bail at $20,000 with conditions or $200,000 without.
Adkins, who does not have any significant criminal history, had bail set at $10,000 with conditions or $100,000 without.
Both defendants are due back in court on Feb. 22.
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