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Minnesota man sentenced to 5 years in prison for sodomy and child pornography

ST. CLOUD – In a hearing in Stearns County District Court on Monday, a Paynesville man was sentenced to five years in prison after pleading guilty to having sexual relations with his dog and possession of child pornography.

Authorities became aware of Ronald Goetzke's “psychosexual” behavior in April 2023 when the National Center of Missing and Exploited Children received a tip about sexual abuse of minors, the criminal complaint states. The first image in question, found through a search engine, showed a shirtless child under the age of eight holding the genitals of an adult man.

After receiving the tip, NCMEC passed it on to the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension, which concluded that Goetzke was the perpetrator and referred the case to the Stearns County Sheriff's Office. Shortly thereafter, on July 13, 2023, investigators obtained a search warrant for Goetzke's residence and seized several electronic devices, VHS tapes, and a camcorder.

Goetzke was arrested after the search. He was charged with possessing several firearms and 5.35 grams of methamphetamine. That charge was dismissed Monday by Judge William Cashman in Stearns County.

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When the officer who had searched Goetzek's property returned to headquarters, the indictment says he reviewed the VHS footage left on the confiscated video camera. The tape allegedly showed Goetzke, 64, alone in red underwear. Later, the tape shows him “on all fours” calling his dog to him while “slapping his own bare bottom,” according to court documents. The VHS tape then shows Goetzke instructing the animal to perform a sexual act on him.

Goetzke, the complaint states, lived with two other dogs at an address in Paynesville.

When the Stearns County detective searched Goetzke's phone, he found several pornographic websites and applications, including those related to bestiality. Following that search, investigators requested and obtained a search warrant for the defendant's email account — which was linked to the image contained in the original tip — and discovered a collection of 12 videos and images depicting sexual abuse of minors.

The materials featured at least 12 young women and one young man, with the youngest child being about 2 years old, according to the complaint. Several videos showed penetration by an adult male, including a 2-year-old. Some of the children in the videos were crying or had a “blank expression on their faces,” the complaint states.

Goetzke was originally charged with three counts of possession of pornography featuring minors under the age of 14, nine counts of possession of pornography on a computer disk, and one count of sodomy.

After pleading guilty in October 2023, Goetzke was found guilty on three counts of possession of pornography featuring minors under the age of 14 and one count of sodomy. All nine counts of possession of pornographic works on a computer disk were dropped, according to court documents.

Goetzke was released on bail in 2023 after pleading guilty while awaiting sentencing. The same judge, Cashman, oversaw the 2023 case and Monday's hearing. The defendant was released from custody in August 2023 on $75,000 bail with conditions not to live with animals, not to possess pornographic material, not to install internet monitoring software and not to have unsupervised contact with minors, according to the release order. After pleading guilty on Oct. 9, 2023, the judge allowed Goetzke to be released pending sentencing with $0 additional bail and similar conditions.

The defendant was charged with violating those conditions on October 16, 2023, during an officer's visit to the defendant's home. When the officer arrived at the scene, he discovered three dogs that Goetzke's fiancée allegedly dropped off earlier that day by Goetzke's brother. According to the violation report, the defendant told the officer in a phone call a few days earlier that he had no pets at home. After assessing the violation, Cashman allowed Goetzke to be released on bail under the same conditions pending sentencing, according to court records.

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Cashman sentenced Goetzke on Monday to five years in prison based on his guilty plea. Otherwise, all of the charges could have combined to result in 75 years in prison and 90 days in jail if the sentences were served consecutively, plus fines of up to $75,000.

Assistant public defenders Caroline Field and Anthony Weigel, representing Goetzke, filed a motion for a variance from the order on August 8, asking the judge to sentence Goetzke to probation rather than give him five years in prison, which was set as the maximum sentence given his guilty plea in 2023. The motion cited the risk of recidivism – the likelihood that he would commit those acts again based on a psychological evaluation – which is no higher than 5.8%, the need for therapy, Goetzke's advanced age and his support system at home.

Parole was denied. According to sentencing details, Goetzke was sentenced to five years in the Minnesota Correctional Facility–St. Cloud.

According to the defense's motion for a temporary restraining order, Goetzke was unwilling to fully admit his actions. His legal team described the motion as “an attempt to salvage some dignity in the face of overwhelming shame.”

Corey Schmidt covers local affairs for the St. Cloud Times. Reach him at [email protected].

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