PRESTON, Minn. – A man caught in an online sex sting has been sentenced.

Benjamin Chad Leslie, 41 of Spring Valley, pleaded guilty to soliciting someone he believed to be a child through electronic communication to engage in sexual conduct and to engaging in electronic communication related to or describing sexual conduct with a child.

Leslie has been sentenced to 42 days in jail, two years of supervised probation, and a $500 fine for the solicitation charge. He’s been given five years of supervised probation and a stay of adjudication for the electronic communication charge, meaning that count will be dismissed if he successfully completes his probation.

An undercover investigator with the Pope County Sheriff’s Office posted on a social media site in August 2024, using an account name

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