Rock County investigation continues

Talk about it

LUVERNE — More information on allegations against a Rock County Deputy are coming forth as a Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension (BCA) investigation continues.

In a search warrant request filed in Blue Earth County, the investigating BCA officer states the warrant is needed to gather information from Deputy Kyle Kreun’s cellphone provider related to a possible illegal relationship, along with acquisition of images that may constitute child pornography.

Kreun is accused of having a sexual relationship with a minor female who was 16 years old when a topless photo of her was discovered on Kreun’s phone by a colleague during a hunting trip. The investigating officer learned that Kreun was dispatched to the school Dec. 16 to respond to a complaint of underage alcohol consumption. The female in question, referred to as Jane Doe in the court documents, was not cited at the time, although others were.

BCA agents conducted an interview with the girl Dec. 29, and she allegedly stated she had met Kreun several months ago while he was on duty and had stopped a vehicle in which she was a passenger.

Kreun spoke with her parents about the matter. After that encounter, she said, they began sending each other text messages, sometimes in excess of 50 messages a day.

The girl said she had sent a topless photo of herself and had been sexually involved with Kreun on several occasions.

Kreun, during an interview the same day, said he had become involved with the girl six months ago and that they had become friends.

He acknowledged he had received at least one photo of the girl. He initially denied being involved in a sexual relationship with her, but later admitted he had consensual sex with her on two or three occasions, the most recent being the previous week.

The document also states the girl’s current age is 17, and that she was 16 when she first met Kreun, who is 28.

Rock County Sheriff Evan Verbrugge said he is hoping to have the final report back from the BCA next week.

“(The agent) keeps hearing rumors out there and has to follow up with those, so it could take longer,” Verbrugge said. “Everyone wants an answer right now, but I think it’s best we get all the information now instead of having to ask questions later about things that weren’t followed up on. I want a complete report.”

He admitted to being surprised by the contents of the search warrant request.

“Because I haven’t received any report from the BCA, and when you find out — see it on the documents — it is shocking,” Verbrugge said.

If any charges are filed against Kreun, the Rock County Attorney’s Office would ask another agency to handle the matter, Verbrugge said, to avoid any conflicts of interest.

Within his office, the case isn’t really being talked about because it’s a personnel issue at this point.

“I’m not saying everything is right according to the allegations in the search warrant, but it doesn’t look positive,” he said.

Unfortunately, some public opinion is painting the whole department with the same brush, which is a frustration.

“We have one officer that made possibly bad decisions, but the rest of the staff wasn’t involved. They are all getting lumped together, and that’s not fair to the rest,” Verbrugge said. “There are always a select few who hate us no matter who it is, because we deal with them all the time. But this was not the whole department. This was one individual who made a decision.”

It is human nature, Verbrugge said, to think “if one is bad, they’re all bad,” but that just isn’t the case.

“We will continue to do our jobs effectively, obviously with an image that has been tarnished,” he said. “The other staff didn’t do anything wrong, and they should not be punished. We’re public figures, which makes this public record. … People trust us, and they should, but when something happens, they’re disappointed in us.”

When the report by the BCA is complete, Verbrugge doesn’t know how much of the information will be public.

“I’ve never dealt with this before,” he admitted. “I think right now it’s a personnel issue, and any internal investigation is private except when it becomes disciplinary.”

Verbrugge hired Kreun, who also serves as the K-9 officer, in 2009. Kreun was placed on paid administrative leave Dec. 30.

Daily Globe Reporter Justine Wettschreck can be reached at

376-7322

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