A Hibbing man who spent years making voyeuristic videos of teenage girls showering and undressing has been convicted of multiple federal child pornography charges after a three-day trial in Minneapolis.
Jurors found Kevin James Petroske, 36, guilty of all charges Wednesday.
"Mr. Petroske preyed on vulnerable and unsuspecting victims in their homes," Assistant U.S. Attorney Manda Sertich said in a statement Thursday. "Fortunately, the jury recognized Mr. Petroske for the predator he is and returned a just result."
An attorney representing Petroske declined to comment.
Petroske was arrested by state authorities following an October 2015 report of a man peering into the windows of a home in Hibbing. Federal prosecutors indicted him last May. Petroske has prior convictions in Stearns County for felony stalking and an open investigation in Benton County for possessing child pornography.
Authorities seized a laptop from Petroske's home that contained "hundreds" of videos and images of child pornography, according to the U.S. attorney's office.
According to charges, Petroske used a cellphone to record short videos, between 17 seconds and 2½ minutes, of young girls showering or getting dressed in their bedrooms. Petroske could often be heard making sexual comments in the recordings. His victims were either 14 or 16 years old.
Jurors found Petroske guilty of eight counts of production and attempted production of child pornography and one count of possessing child pornography from storing the recordings on his laptop.
The FBI investigated the case alongside the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension and the Hibbing Police Department.
U.S. District Judge Patrick Schiltz scheduled Petroske's sentencing for Jan. 18.
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