Benjamin Berg

A Minot man made his initial appearance Monday in North Central District Court on one count of enticing minors by electronic communications, a Class C felony.

Benjamin Lawrence Berg, 35, Minot, a former Minot city councilman and former Minot Public Schools employee, was arrested Friday for a communication allegedly exchanged with a minor on a social media application in August. Berg made his initial appearance Monday before Judge Richard Hagar.

According to the probable cause affidavit, a Minot police officer with the investigative division spoke on Aug. 30 with the alleged victim, who reported a random account using the handle Sam Rudolph had added to the app and began chatting with him . The account was later determined to be operated by Berg, according to the affidavit.

The alleged victim said the conversation quickly turned sexual in nature and he decided he was going to continue the conversation so he could catch the person trying to lure him. The minor said Berg initially invited him to his residence. He agreed to meet in a Minot park on August 13th.

The alleged victim asked four other juveniles to go to the park with him so he would not be alone when he met Berg. The juvenile said he observed Berg circling the area and that Berg said he was making sure law enforcement was not present. The alleged victim spoke to Berg through the window of the vehicle he was driving, and Berg quickly left the area after telling her he would meet him behind the bathrooms for more privacy.

The juveniles obtained the vehicle’s license plate number, which was registered solely to Berg, according to the affidavit. A video provided to investigators showed a brief image of the driver, who appeared to match Berg’s description.

A search warrant obtained for the Sam Rudolph account showed it was accessed in the area of ​​the park where the meeting took place and, prior to that, at Berg’s residence. Photos of the alleged victim were found in images saved on the social media account.