A special agent with Homeland Security Investigations is jailed and accused in federal court of coercing and enticing a 17-year-old girl into sex acts, which he photographed and filmed.
Timothy Ryan Gregg, 51, of Eagan, was charged Monday in U.S. District Court with producing child sexual abuse material after federal authorities say images and videos of the two engaged in sexual activity were found on her cellphone on May 29.
Gregg made an initial court appearance Wednesday before Magistrate Judge Dulce Foster and was ordered to remain in federal custody at the Sherburne County Jail pending further court hearings.
Gregg’s attorney, Ryan Pacyga, told the Pioneer Press on Wednesday that Gregg “had no idea he was dealing with a minor” and “we have proof that he 100 percent had been told, repeatedly, that the alleged victim is an adult. He was repeatedly lied to about her age, which is a game changer under the law and was devastating for him to find out that she is not yet 18.”
According to court documents, which were unsealed Wednesday:
The girl’s father told police that he found on her cellphone, which she had left behind in a car, multiple sexually explicit images and videos, including some of her and a man engaged in sex acts. The man was identified by law enforcement as Gregg, who also serves as a task force officer with the FBI.
The cellphone showed that Gregg, who was listed in the girl’s contacts as “Labubu,” and the teen had sent text messages to each other and naked photos. Gregg also sent her photos and videos of the two engaged in sex in a hotel room.
The girl told law enforcement that she had met Gregg through the dating/meet-up app Tinder. She said he picked her up multiple times, mostly on Sundays, and that they went to a hotel, where he took photos and videos of them engaged in sex.
A check of hotel records by law enforcement showed that Gregg rented a room four times in March and twice in both April and in May, all on Sundays. Hotel employees said that Gregg would rent the rooms by himself and then bring a guest inside the hotel through the parking ramp.
Gregg used his “official ICE/HS email address to make the hotel reservations,” the complaint states.
“The U.S. Attorney’s Office will always hold defendants in positions of public trust to account, particularly when they commit crimes against vulnerable children,” acting U.S. Attorney Joseph Thompson said Wednesday in a written statement. “I am proud of the swift and decisive action of the FBI and the Rochester Police Department, who responded immediately and worked together to take Gregg safely into custody.”
Alvin Winston Sr., special agent in charge of FBI Minneapolis, said the case against Gregg “represents a gross violation of both the law and the responsibilities entrusted to those who wear a badge.”
Meanwhile, Pacyga, Gregg’s attorney, said he has had a “long, distinguished career in law enforcement and has dedicated his life to public service. He is more than what he is accused of here, and we will see him through this.”
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