Duluth man charged over explicit texts to undercover officer he believed was a minor

A Duluth man is facing 15 felony charges for allegedly sending dozens of sexually explicit messages to an undercover officer he believed was a young teen.

Bradley Richard Joseph Tilton, 33, is accused of sending the messages from Nov. 9 through Nov. 28.

According to a complaint filed earlier this month in Carver Country District Court:

A Carver County sheriff’s detective created a social media profile using photographs of an undercover officer who appeared to be underage.

Tilton first made contact with the undercover profile on Nov. 9 and sent sexually explicit messages. The messages continued almost every day through much of the month.

On Feb. 9, a search warrant was executed, and Tilton was arrested at his home. When the detective running the undercover operation texted the person they had been communicating with, the text message appeared on a phone seized at Tilton’s apartment.

When asked why he thought law enforcement had a search warrant out for him, Tilton said “probably having conversations with people and things of that nature” and “I haven’t tried soliciting minors in the area or anything like that,” according to charging documents.

Tilton told the undercover officer that he had lots of pictures young girls on his phone and he had them sent to him from different people, the documents said.

Tilton’s defense attorney did not respond to messages seeking comment.