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Wednesday, September 24, 2008
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Meeting scheduled in Staples on sex offender
Staff Writer Before his release from prison, Level 3 sex offender Douglas James Denning will be the focus of a community notification meeting in Staples.
Denning, 43, will be released on Oct. 16 from the Rush City state prison and is scheduled to move back to Staples.
The community notification meeting will be at 6 p.m. on Oct. 7 at the Centennial Auditorium on the east side of the Staples-Motley High School, 401 Centennial Lane in Staples.
The notification meeting is being conducted by the Staples Police Department and the Minnesota Department of Corrections. Staples Police Chief Kyle Huber said anyone with an interest in this matter is encouraged to attend and members of the public will be able to ask questions at the meeting.
However, Huber said no questions will be taken from the public before the Oct. 7 notification meeting.
There are three levels of sex offender assignment that range from Level 1 offenders, who are considered a minor risk, up to Level 3, which means the person is the most likely to reoffend. Level 3 offenders have been determined to be at the highest risk of all sexual predators for reoffending.
In November of 2001, a search warrant was executed at Denning's home in Staples after authorities received a complaint of pornographic pictures from the photograph developing center at the Wal-Mart in Baxter.
In a Dispatch story published in August of 2002, Staples Police Chief Kyle Huber said numerous photographs of Denning with children, as well as cameras, videotapes, newspaper articles, costume jewelry and other items were confiscated from Denning's home.
A couple of the photographs involved nude children, Huber said. Most of the photographs, he added, were of Denning and the children in "inappropriate and illegal circumstances." Some of the photographs date back about 15 years, Huber said. The photographs were taken in Staples and Fargo, N.D.
Denning was well-known to the children involved in the crimes, Huber said. He was active in the community as a coach with swimming and basketball at the Staples Community Center.
In July of 2002, Denning was charged with seven counts of use of a minor in a sexual performance, three counts of second-degree criminal sexual conduct and two counts of possession of pictorial presentations of minors.
According to the criminal complaint filed against Denning, he often acted as a baby sitter for the children and several times the minors spent the night at his home. The parents of the children, the complaint said, were unaware of the indecent activities taking place at Denning's home.
In September of 2004 he pleaded guilty to four counts of use of a minor in a sexual performance and in January of 2005 he was sentenced to 45 months in prison and ordered to receive sex offender treatment while in prison.
MATT ERICKSON may be reached at matt.erickson@brainerddispatch.com or 855-5857.
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