Bird Island man accused of sex, drug crimes

A Bird Island man is facing sex and drug crime charges after he was accused of inappropriately touching a girl.

Brandon Arthur Schwer, 32, was charged Friday in Renville County District Court with felony counts of criminal sexual conduct and storing meth paraphernalia in the presence of children.

According to a criminal complaint, the mother of a 10-year-old girl called police to report her daughter had been sexually molested at a friend’s home by the father of the household.

During a child advocacy interview, the girl said Schwer had sent her a picture of his penis about a year earlier.  She said she’d told her parents about the incident, but Schwer told them the photo was sent in error and was intended for an adult female.

The girl said she was at Schwer’s house to play with his children in mid-January when he groped her.

According to the complaint, the girl was in an upstairs bedroom playing Xbox, when Schwer sat in a chair behind her and began to touch her buttocks.  One of Schwer’s children was in the room at the time, according to the complaint.

Court documents say Schwer left the room and returned a half-hour later, this time coming up behind the child and rubbing his crotch up against her.  The victim said she told Schwer and her friend she had to leave, and escaped without further incident.

Investigators obtained a warrant and in Schwer’s living room found a Windex bottle that had been converted into a bong.  The bottle straw contained methamphetamine, according to the complaint.

Police say a meth pipe with residue was also found in the drawer of the nightstand.  In the room where the abuse allegedly occurred, the Xbox sat on top of a mirror container meth residue, says the complaint.

Schwer denied touching the 10-year-old girl, but admitted he had meth paraphernalia in the house and that his children could access it.