FARGO — A jury will decide whether a former West Fargo teacher tried to convince a detective who was posing as a child online to have sex with him.
Cass County prosecutors and the defense team for 59-year-old Ronald Jeffrey Thompson wrapped up jury selection Tuesday, Oct. 12. Opening statements will begin at 9 a.m. Wednesday. It’s unclear how long the trial will last.
Thompson was charged Feb. 24 with a Class B felony of luring a minor by computer. A detective from Florida who posed as a 14-year-old girl started chatting with Thompson online as early as Oct. 31, 2019, according to court documents.
Prosecutors alleged Thompson believed he was speaking with a 14-year-old but still had sexually explicit conversations that eventually moved to Google Hangouts after he requested an email from the undercover officer. “Thompson talked about having oral sex with the girl along with describing in detail how he would have sex with the female,” a police report said.
The detective eventually learned Thompson was a West Fargo teacher, so he contacted the West Fargo Police Department, court documents said. Thompson taught at Sheyenne and West Fargo high schools.
Police claim Thompson admitted to talking with multiple females online, including more than one who was under the age of 18, when he was interviewed at a West Fargo high school, the report said. He denied having “any hands-on offenses with anyone he has chatted with,” the report said. He also said he did not have any inappropriate contacts or chats with anyone in the area, according to court documents.
The West Fargo Police Department confirmed in a news conference that their investigation revealed Thompson was not having relations with local students.
Thompson, who resigned as a career and technology education teacher in early February before being charged, has pleaded not guilty in the case.
The defense filed a motion on Monday to dismiss the luring charge. Prosecutors have to prove three elements of a luring charge: that an adult knows his communication is sexually explicit or implicit, that they use any computer communication system to initiate or engage in conversations with a minor, and […]
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