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Tim Nelson
St. Paul, Minn.

Minneapolis teacher charged in child sex sting

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Joel Fowler
Mug shot of Joel Fowler.
Courtesy Ramsey County Sheriff's Office

Ramsey County prosecutors have charged a Minneapolis middle school teacher with soliciting a minor for sex in a sting operation in St. Paul.

Joel Fowler, a 23-year-old teacher at Olson Middle School, faces two felony counts of solicitation of a child. He allegedly posted an ad on Craigslist asking to meet a recent high school graduate. Police responded, posing as a 14-year-old girl. Police said Fowler responded with an offer to meet and have sex.

Police arranged for a meeting at a park on St. Paul's West Side and arrested Fowler shortly after he arrived.

According to the complaint, he acknowledged posting on Craigslist as early as 2012 but denied he ever met anyone through the website and denied having any inappropriate contact with children or any complaints against him at his school.

The Minneapolis school district says Fowler was put on administrative leave and "will not return to Olson Middle School." A statement from Minneapolis Public Schools chief communications officer Stan Alleyne said the school system finds "the detailed information outlined in the criminal complaint to be morally reprehensible. We simply will not and cannot tolerate this type of behavior in any way. Police indicate that the incident did not occur on school grounds and did not involve any MPS students."