59-Year-Old Man Attempted Oral Sex On 11-Year-Old Boy, Asked For Nude Photos

This is a representational image showing a handcuff. Getty Images/John Moore

A Minnesota man was charged Thursday for sexually assaulting an 11-year-old boy he met through church.

A criminal complaint filed in Ramsey County District Court stated that 59-year-old Russ John Van Dassor met the victim and his family through church in 2017. The following year, Dassor invited the boy over to his home three times to help him make things in his workshop.

During the boy’s first visit to Dassor’s home, the accused took him out to play games. He also let the boy ride his car and made him sit on his lap. During the second visit, Dassor made the boy watch an adult movie and instructed him to not tell anyone about it. The man also told the victim to take photos of his genitals and send it to him by email.

During the boy’s third visit in December 2018, Dassor showed the boy a drawer that had two sex toys. He also showed him an iPad that had “crude” websites on it and asked him to view the sites. Dassor then asked the victim to pull down his pants so he could perform oral sex on him. When the boy refused, Dassor forcefully pulled down the victim’s pants and again asked if he could perform oral sex. The boy refused, slapped on Dassor’s hand and pulled his pants up, the Twin Cities Pioneer Press reported.

The incident came to light in March, when the victim’s mother heard Dassor asking her son if he was “still mad at him.” The mother brought the boy to the police station to file a complaint.

A search warrant was executed at Dassor’s home and police found a photo of a young boy, whose genitals were exposed, on his phone. The victim’s mother identified the boy in the photo to be her son. Dassor was taken into custody Wednesday and charged with one count each of “attempted criminal sexual conduct with a child younger than 13" and “possession of child pornography.”

The accused also had an outstanding warrant in Dakota County at the time of arrest for allegedly masturbating in a minivan at a park.

Dassor was set to appear before a judge Friday.