Nathan Miller Dobbelmann was born on Monday, August 10, 1981, as the youngest son of Steven Louis Dobbelman and his second wife, Deborah Ann Miller. From 1996 to 2000, he attended Cook County High School, where he graduated. As a teenager, Nathan was a big fan of Mariah Carey and an active member of her fan club; he even posted messages in her online guestbook.
Nathan went to college and performed quite well. In the fall of 2001, he made the Dean’s List, an academic honor awarded to students with a GPA of 3.0 or higher. At the time, he lived in Luthen, Minnesota. On Wednesday, June 11, 2003, he graduated from Fond du Lac Tribal and Community College in Cloquet, Minnesota, earning both an Associate in Arts and an Associate in Applied Science, along with 199 other graduates.
At age 21, Nathan began studying Criminal Justice / Law Enforcement at Winona State University. In July 2004, he found part-time work as a detention assistant at the Winona County Sheriff's Department. Possibly as part of his studies, he also worked as a campus parking security officer. In a November 17, 2004 article in the Winonan campus newspaper, Nathan was interviewed about that semester’s results. He showed a fair-minded attitude by stating that violators shouldn’t have to pay a $5 fine: “We usually have to cut the lock to confiscate the bike. A new lock is expensive enough.”
In January 2005, he got a full-time job as a jailer at Winona County. He graduated in May 2005, at age 23, and was living in Winona with his roommate Erin.
Nathan appeared to have an active social life, judging by photos and comments on his social media. He enjoyed swimming and partying. He owned a motorcycle and documented his first date: a ride to the lake, swimming, followed by dinner and a movie. He had a girlfriend named Laura, as seen in a photo album dated April 22, 2005.
By 2006, Laura seemed to be out of the picture. On May 11, 2006, Nathan registered a Flixster account under the name “hottestsingleman,” where he was also looking to meet new people. His last login was on Tuesday, January 9, 2007.
Nathan was single and looking for “a woman to hang out with.” He used the internet to find dates and share photos. He was active on various social and dating platforms, including PlentyOfFish, MySpace, and Microsoft Instant Messenger, all under the alias “hottestsingleman.” His photos suggested that women found him attractive, and he frequently appeared shirtless. He may have overestimated his appeal when seeking sexual encounters.
Nathan may not have been aware that police received complaints about him in April and October 2006 regarding sexual propositions. He was not arrested at the time, but the incidents were recorded. Nothing was found to warrant punishment, but the matter was reported to the city’s personnel director, who initiated an investigation.
On Sunday, July 29, 2007, while most of his friends were on vacation, Nathan made a serious mistake. He crossed a line in his online interaction with a 15-year-old girl: he asked her to have sex with him and another woman, and sent her explicit pornographic images.
The following Monday, the girl’s mother contacted the police. She reported that her daughter had received disturbing messages and pornographic images via the internet. The sender identified himself as Nathan, claimed to be a detention officer at Winona County, and used the username “hottestsingleman” on Yahoo Instant Messenger and MySpace.com. The parents handed over their daughter’s computer to the police, who analyzed the log files and found sufficient evidence to initiate a case.
From Monday to Thursday, multiple investigators worked to trace the messages. Through subpoenas issued to Google, Yahoo, and Charter Communications, the origin was traced back to a computer located in a residence on East Howard Street in Winona. Charter, Nathan’s internet provider, provided his physical address to the authorities.
On Thursday, August 2, 2007, at 4:00 PM, police arrived at Nathan’s home to arrest him and search the premises. They seized an Apple computer, several hard drives, a digital camera, an iPod, and other peripheral equipment. Nathan was charged with sending pornographic images to a 15-year-old girl from Rochester and attempting to persuade her and her friend to engage in sexual acts through online messages. He was transferred to the Olmsted County jail to avoid a conflict of interest, as he worked at the Winona County jail.
On Friday, August 3, 2007, the preliminary hearing took place at the Winona courthouse. Nathan was charged with:
The maximum penalty for the felony was three years in prison and a $5,000 fine.
During the bail hearing, County Attorney Chuck MacLean raised two concerns:
Bail was set as follows:
|
|||||||||||
Nathan chose to pay the conditional bail. He was released under those terms and placed on paid administrative leave.
Between Nathan’s release and his plea hearing in February 2008, several developments occurred:
During the plea hearing, Nathan admitted guilt to the charge of distributing obscene material. The prosecutor dropped the more serious felony charge because:
Nathan testified that he had met the girl online and sent her “sexually explicit” images. He indicated that the term “obscene material” was vague to him.
Nathan Miller Dobbelmann (26) was sentenced to:
During the hearing, it was revealed that the victim had repeatedly lied about her age. Nathan stated he wasn’t certain she was 15 and acknowledged it was wrong to send the material without knowing who she really was.
Nathan requested clarification from the court regarding his internet restrictions, specifically whether he was allowed to use social networking sites like MySpace and Facebook.
The judge clarified that probation policy was strict: internet use was only permitted for job search activities, under supervision or at public locations. A debate arose over the written wording of the sentence, which appeared stricter than the verbal explanation.
On September 12, Nathan and his pregnant girlfriend visited parenting websites. Nathan feared this might violate his probation and voluntarily reported it to his probation officer.
On Tuesday during Christmas week, Nathan accessed MySpace, which was considered a violation of his probation. An arrest warrant was issued.
The defense argued that Nathan had been placed in an uncomfortable situation:
The judge agreed to release him but made the conditions absolutely clear:
“No access to the internet in any form, except through employer-approved services.”
Nathan admitted that he had visited parenting websites with his pregnant girlfriend on September 12, which led to the first probation report.
The second report followed his Christmas Day arrest:
Nathan acknowledged possession of the photos. Prosecutors dropped the MySpace charge because:
The judge imposed additional conditions:
Nathan did not complete his treatment. So the probation was extended a year and counseling for his problems.
On Januari 6, 2011 Nathan was arrested again when he was cought in using his phone to find an address to give at his agent for the background letter the agent would write for Nathan. After searching phone. MySpace was contacted 5 times.And on hard drive there were pornographic pics deleted.
Later in Januari the following artie appeared.
A former Winona County jailer is headed back to jail — as an inmate. Nathan Miller Dobbelmann, 29, of La Crescent, Minn., was ordered Thursday to spend four months in jail for violating his probation. He admitted he possessed a portable hard drive with deleted pornographic images when he was arrested earlier this month for using social networking websites, a violation of his probation.
2007-08-04
Jailer accused of asking teen girl for sex
By Kevin Behr / Winona Daily News, http://www.winonadailynews.com/articles/2007/08/04/news/02jailer.txt
2007-08-06
Dobbelmann Charged
Posted Monday, August 6, 2007; http://www.winonaradio.com/newsfront/viewnews.cgi?newsid1186420816,42037,
2007-08-08
More charges possible against ‘hottestsingleman’
By Kevin Behr / Winona Daily News
http://www.winonadailynews.com/articles/2007/08/08/news/04jailer.txt