Convicted Chaska sex offender arrested after interacting with social media group posing as young girl
CHASKA, Minn. — A convicted sex offender is behind bars again after interacting with a citizen group posing as a 13-year-old girl.
"He reached out to her profile Nov. 20, through a Taylor Swift fan page," said Max Term, founder of Big Country's Predator Exposure.
The Chaska Police Department says the man targeted in this operation was Michael Klappenbach who is now charged with soliciting a child online — a crime he'd been convicted of in the past.
Term created the private group more than a year ago with one goal: to catch child predators online after his daughter was groomed while playing an online game called Roblox.
For the past year, his team has crisscrossed the United States, posing as minors across various platforms, coordinating with other teams and live-streaming conversations with alleged child predators before looping in the police.
"We do what we can to protect our youth of America," Term said.
Term believes police are not doing enough — not because they don't want to — but because of a manpower issue.
According to the complaint, Klappenbach told police he did contact a young-looking woman on Facebook messenger and admitted to having "sexual" conversations.
In a statement, the Chaska Police Department said:
We appreciate that community members want to take an active role in keeping our community safe. One way that can be effective is when someone, or in this case a citizen group, calls us with information or allegations of a crime being committed.
We always encourage anyone who encounters suspicious activity to report it directly to law enforcement from a safe place and let our officers respond. This allows us to make sure investigations are conducted within the framework of the law, which protects the rights of all individuals and any evidence that could be used in court.
After responding to this call on Saturday, we initiated an investigation and reviewed the evidence. Based on what we observed and the established probable cause, officers made an arrest. Arrest decisions are always made carefully. We may consider things like the nature of the crime, the evidence available, and the individual's history.
Klappenbach is a Level 3 predatory offender who moved to Chaska after his release from prison in 2019. Per Minnesota state statute, we conducted a notification meeting on October 9th, 2019, to share pertinent information with community members and stakeholders.
The Chaska Police Department has a predatory offender registration (POR) team that is tasked with keeping track of any predatory offenders living in Chaska.
WCCO reached out to the suspect's attorney but hasn't heard back. Klappenbach will make his first appearance next Friday.