Michigan man sent to prison for driving to Lakeville, sexually assaulting 13-year-old girl

Nick Ferraro, Pioneer Press
·2 min read
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A Michigan man has been sentenced to nearly six years in federal prison after pleading guilty to driving to Lakeville to sexually assault a 13-year-old girl he met on Omegle, a video chat website that was shut down last month after accusations that it introduced minors to sexual predators.

In January, Maxwell Winston Beardsley, 22, of Highland, Mich., was charged in Dakota County District Court with third-degree criminal sexual conduct of a child under the age of 14.

The case was moved to U.S. District Court in Minneapolis, where in July Beardsley pleaded guilty to one count of interstate travel with the intent to engage in a sexual act with a minor. A charge of persuading a minor to engage in sexual activity, which carries a minimum 10-year prison sentence, was dismissed as part of a plea deal, federal court records show. He was sentenced Monday.

According to state and federal court documents, Beardsley met the girl on Omegle in October 2022. She told Lakeville police she told Beardsley her age and that he said he was 16 years old. He asked for nude photos and videos, which she sent him.

She said she talked to Beardsley through Omegle, text, Facetime, TikTok and Instagram, over the next several months. He said he wanted to come to Minnesota to spend time with her.

On Jan. 27, Beardsley drove from Michigan to Lakeville, where he rented a hotel room near her home. The next day, the girl told her mom she was meeting a friend at a movie theater. Her mom dropped her off at the theater, but she left and went to the hotel, where she was sexually assaulted.

The girl met Beardsley again the next day. He drove her to Lakeville’s Casperson Park, where she was sexually assaulted in his car.

When she got home that night, her mom found out what happened and called the police.

Beardsley’s sentence by U.S. District Judge Nancy Brasel includes 10 years of supervised release following his 70-month prison term. He must also pay $5,000 to the Domestic Victims of Human Trafficking Program.

Omegle history

Omegle was created by Leif K-Brooks in 2009, who was 18 at the time and living with his parents in Vermont.

K-Brooks ceased operations of the platform last month after years of accusations that it led to sexual abuse of minors and just two days after K-Brooks settled a lawsuit a young woman filed in 2021 accusing it of matching her in a chat when she was 11 years old with a man who sexually exploited her, National Public Radio reported. The shutdown also followed a renewed push for U.S. lawmakers to vote on the Kids Online Safety Act.

“There can be no honest accounting of Omegle without acknowledging that some people misused it, including to commit unspeakably heinous crimes,” K-Brooks wrote on the website announcing its demise.

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