MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) – A 32-year-old former Minneapolis police officer charged with sexually assaulting underage girls he met on social media sites now faces an additional charge.
Amended charges were filed last week against Bradley Schnickel, 32, of Andover, adding a charge of furnishing alcohol to a minor to accompany the six felony counts he already faces in Anoka County.
The complaint says Schnickel passed himself off as Brady Schmidt and Brian Schmidt in cell phone and Facebook conversations with an 11-year-old Brooklyn Center girl.
The conversations were sexually explicit and allegedly included a picture of his genitals. Schnickel also had similar explicit conversations with a 14-year-old girl, according to the complaint.
Among the details in the Anoka County criminal complaint, investigators say that they know of separate incidents involving at least four different girls, all of whom were either 13 or 14 years old at the time of the assaults.
Authorities said when Schnickel figured out that police were investigating him in January, he went back to the victims and told them to deny everything.
Schnickel’s other charges include two counts of third-degree criminal sexual conduct and one count of attempted third-degree criminal sexual conduct, as well as three further counts of engaging in electronic communication relating to or describing sexual conduct with a child.
