In April 2016 Carl Gansen of South St. Paul was arrested at the Burger King in Woodbury attempting to meet who he thought was a 15 year old child according to the criminal complaint. He's one of over 30 men who have been caught by Washington County in child trafficking stings in the last few years. See: Washington County Child Prostitution Sting “Suspects” Names, Photos, and Addresses. Gansen is number 19 on the list.
According to the criminal complaint, Gansen wanted to pick the child up from school and pay her $100 for sex, but agreed to meet her at Burger King. He was notified the age of the child was 15 yet still continued. When he showed up to meet the child he was arrested and notified he was actually communicating with police. He was charged with "Engaging in Electronic Communication Relating or Describing Sexual Conduct with Child" MN 609.352.2a(2)
A year and a half later on October 25th, 2017 Gansen was convicted on this charge of sexual communication with a child and sentenced to just 3 years probation and will have to serve 90 days in in a work release program out of jail if he violates probation it appears. He was convicted on "stay of imposition" and according to MN law they explain it means if he completes the terms of his probation he will have his felony conviction downgraded to misdemeanor. That also means he will not be on the sex offender registry. Lastly, he has to pay a $1,000 fine. For lack of a better term, he's getting his felony waived it appears.
What's disturbing, besides the weak sentence, is prior to mid 2016 the County would charge these child predators with soliciting a minor; however they stopped doing this after some of our all volunteer team at Washington County Watchdog got law makers to stiffen this law. Now convictions of child solicitation require sex offender registration (but only 10 year max). Unfortunately, the county now charges those caught in these stings with the now weaker charge of sexual communication with a child. When asked in January of 2017 the lead prosecutor Imran Ali stated the men would not plead guilty if their sentence included sex offender registration. We asked why going to trial was a problem when they're caught red handed in a sting with overwhelming evidence. He stated trials tie up the whole department, they're expensive, and you could see them walk with no punishment if they're found not guilty for any reason.
The problem is further explained in our related article: Watchdog Review of Each of the Fifty States Sex Offender Laws Finds Minnesota Ranked the Most Unsafe
The solution is in Minnesota law makers hands to make it so no sex crime against a child goes without mandated prison time and sex offender registration. Currently most child rapists rarely do more than a year in jail and no more than 10 years on the sex offender registry. See more about the solution here: Rampant Sex Crime on Children, in Just 2yrs, 10 Cases From County Alone, 8 Simple Laws to Update
For many more examples from Washington County of convicted sex offenders still on our streets see our other posts here:
wcwatchdog.com/local-sex-offen
wcwatchdog.com/local-sex-offen
For the growing list of the last know location of convicted sex offenders in Washington County see:
Please Consider Helping Victims of Sexual Assault in Washington County with EmpowerSurvivors out of Stillwater. They are a 501(c3), every cent goes to the victims peer support. They also need office supplies for their location. See our post about them here:
DEFENDANT: Carl William Gansen
DOB: 1/29/1983
CITY/RESIDENCE:
2200 Southview Boulevard
#305South St. Paul, MN 55075
MN AGENCY: Woodbury Police Department
JUDGE: Gary R. Schurrer
CONVICTION: Engage in Electronic Communication Relating or Describing Sexual Conduct with Child
SENTENCE: Stay of imposition, 3 years of probation. 90 days jail, 4 days credit, Sentence to Serve in/out-of-custody. Pay $1,000 fine within 90 days. Follow all standard terms of probation (only gets Jail if he fails to follow probation)
*In no way do we wish harm to the convicted sex offenders outside the judgement of the law. Posting each criminal's data allows the public to decide from the evidence if they appreciate knowing such data. Such as what these sex offender's last known address is. No representation is made that the individuals listed here are currently on the state's offenders registry. All names presented here were gathered at a past date. Some persons listed might no longer be registered offenders and others might have been added. Some addresses or other data might no longer be current. Owners of Washington County Watchdog assume no responsibility (and expressly disclaim responsibility) for updating this site to keep information current or to ensure the accuracy or completeness of any posted information. All data was only accurate at the time of posting per Government sources provided. Accordingly, you should confirm the accuracy and completeness of all posted information before making any decision related to any data presented on this site. The information on this web site is made available solely to protect the public. Anyone who uses this information to commit a crime or to harass an offender or his or her family is subject to criminal prosecution and civil liability. Message us if you can verify us of an address or change in data. Washington County Watchdog is not responsible for the accuracy of the content shared, refer to our linked government sources.
*In no way do we wish harm to the convicted sex offenders outside the judgement of the law. Posting each criminal's data allows the public to decide from the evidence if they appreciate knowing such data. Such as what these sex offender's last known address is. No representation is made that the individuals listed here are currently on the state's offenders registry. All names presented here were gathered at a past date. Some persons listed might no longer be registered offenders and others might have been added. Some addresses or other data might no longer be current. Owners of Washington County Watchdog assume no responsibility (and expressly disclaim responsibility) for updating this site to keep information current or to ensure the accuracy or completeness of any posted information. All data was only accurate at the time of posting per Government sources provided. Accordingly, you should confirm the accuracy and completeness of all posted information before making any decision related to any data presented on this site. The information on this web site is made available solely to protect the public. Anyone who uses this information to commit a crime or to harass an offender or his or her family is subject to criminal prosecution and civil liability. Message us if you can verify us of an address or change in data. Washington County Watchdog is not responsible for the accuracy of the content shared, refer to our linked government sources.
