A 48-year-old man is serving 25 years in prison for connecting with two high school boys through MySpace and making pornographic videos in an Iron Range hotel after plying them with alcohol and then paying them.
25-year sentence for man who made porn with boys in Iron Range hotel
May 23, 2012 at 12:17AM
Joel G. Zigler, of Big Lake, Minn., was sentenced Monday in federal court in St. Paul after pleading guilty to producing child pornography in Hibbing in October 2010.
Zigler's criminal history includes a similar conviction in 1988, when he approached boys in the Red Wing High School boys locker room and tried to get them to pose for photos while nude or performing lewd acts in exchange for money.
In arguing in this recent case for a sentence of no longer than 17 1/2 years, defense attorney Joseph Tamburino noted that Zigler had been molested as a teenager, had expressed remorse and has cooperated with authorities.
The prosecution, which sought the sentence Zigler ultimately received, pointed out that the defendant supplied his victims with beer and alcohol, showed them pornography at the hotel before paying them a total of $300 to masturbate for the camera. Two weeks later, prosecutors continued, he brought the boys to the same hotel and had sex with them.
Zigler found one of the boys through MySpace and asked whether he wanted to be video-recorded for money, according to court documents.
He told police he thought the boys were adults and that he neglected to have them sign releases and show proof of age, which he said he has done when making amateur porn videos with adults.
The videos involving the boys, a video camera and other digital equipment were seized by authorities from his parents' home, where he lived.
Along with the 1988 case, Zigler's criminal history includes an indecent exposure conviction in 1995 in Ramsey County.
PAUL WALSH
The governor said it may be 2027 or 2028 by the time the market catches up to demand.
