Monticello janitor accused of sexual offense

The high school employee allegedly had sex with a 15-year-old student in exchange for money and favors.

By Joy Powell, Star Tribune

Last update: August 16, 2007 - 9:23 PM

The janitor at Monticello High School is facing criminal sexual-conduct charges for allegedly having sex with a student numerous times since 2002, when the boy was 15, according to a complaint filed recently in Sherburne County District Court.

Rodger Jerome Larson, 55, of Monticello, had first befriended the boy and his mother in the spring of 2002. Back then, the boy was 14, and he was having difficulty with his home life. According to the complaint, Larson, who was living in Big Lake Township at that time, persuaded the boy's mother to let him "mentor" the boy, and he invited the youth to movies and to spend time with him on the weekends.

But in reality, the complaint alleges, Larson showed the youth pornographic movies and engaged in oral and anal sex with him, sometimes paying him $10 to $15. Even when the boy was grounded at home, his parents let him spend time alone with Larson at his home, the complaint says, and they told the teen to obey the man as he would his parents. One reason they boy went, the complaint suggests, was because the man let him hang around with other kids, though he was to be grounded.

The complaint says the sexual incidents continued after Rodgers moved into a Monticello apartment, and at times he took the youth on overnight trips, including to a casino in Mille Lacs. The last sexual contact between the two was in April, it says.

On June 6, the mother of the victim, now 18, called the man and recorded a conversation in which Larson allegedly admitted to swimming nude with the teen at the man's home. She called the Sherburne County Sheriff's Office, and deputies searched the man's home on June 8. Among items they found were 80 photographs, many of them of the youth, the court papers say.

Prosecutors filed the complaint on Aug. 2, charging Rodgers with nine counts of criminal sexual conduct from 2002 to 2004, when the boy was under 16 years of age. Larson appeared in court on Wednesday and then posted $5,000 bail, with conditions including that he have no contact with anyone under age 18.

School officials could not be reached for comment Thursday afternoon or evening.

Joy Powell • 612-673-7750

Joy Powell • jpowell@startribune.com

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