Charges: Mankato man sent genital pic to child on social media

(Mankato, MN) – A Mankato man accused of sending a photo of his genitals to a girl was also allegedly in possession of child pornography.

Zachary Albert Romero, 26, was charged in Blue Earth County Court last week with felony counts of soliciting a child through electronic communication, engaging a child in electronic communication, and possessing pornographic work.

According to a criminal complaint, the girl’s mother reported to police in June 2019 that her daughter had received a photo of an adult’s penis through Romero’s social media account  The mother said there were possibly electronic conversations of sexual nature between her daughter and Romero.

Detectives obtained records for Romero and the victim’s social media accounts.  The criminal complaint said the investigation unearthed conversations between the victim and Romeo about having sex.  Romero also made an admission that he had sent a “dick pic” to the girl, who police say is under the age of 16.

In a police interview in August, Romero allegedly admitted that he’d sent the girl pictures of his penis and asked her if she was interesting in having sex with him.  He told investigators the girl was friends with a child he knew, according to the complaint.   Romero also told police there could be pornographic images of minors on one of his app accounts.

Investigators found a “series” of files containing graphic sexual images of a female child about 10 to 12 years old on Romero’s email, according to the complaint.

Rommero has been summoned to appear in Blue Earth County court on June 11.