Crime & Safety

Burnsville Man, 53, Charged with Criminal Sexual Conduct with 5-Year-Old

Police say Robert Dean Walker had the girl touch his genitals, and that he took baths with the child, whom he babysat during the day.

A Burnsville man has been charged with forcing a 5-year-old girl for whom he was babysitting to touch his genitals and taking baths with the child.

Robert Dean Walker, 53, is charged with two counts of attempted second-degree criminal sexual conduct, felonies with a maximum penalty of 12 and a half years in prison and a $17,500 fine.

According to the criminal complaint, police learned Aug. 7 that Walker might have been sexually assaulting a 5-year-old girl who lived in the same house.

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The victim’s father told investigators that he works at night and the child’s mother works during the day, so Walker–who has lived with the family since July, when his mother died–takes care of the girl during the day.

Authorities met with Walker on Aug. 9. He admitted being the child’s caregiver and said that the child had touched his penis several times by reaching up beneath his gym shorts, which he wears without underwear, according to the complaint.

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Walker also told police that he and the child sometimes lay together naked, and that they took baths together, the complaint charges.

Walker said he had some pictures on his computer, and he didn’t know whether they were “against the law,” according to the complaint. He called the investigator after the interview and admitted that he fantasizes about little girls, but he was too afraid to say it during the interview, the complaint says.

Walker admitted that he fantasized about the victim, but claimed never to have touched her, although the child told investigators that Walker tried to touch her genitals at least once, the complaint says.

Police sought a search warrant for Walker’s computer. While searching the machine, they found a video of the victim in which the camera focuses on the child’s chest and posterior, according to the complaint. They found another video in which an unknown 10-  to 12-year-old girl is mowing the lawn, and the camera zooms in on the girl’s chest and crotch areas.

During that video, Walker’s voice can be heard talking about children coming home from school and the sexual acts he would like to perform on them, according to the complaint.

Walker, who was arrested Aug. 15 by Ramsey County authorities, remains in the Dakota County Jail. He is scheduled to make a first appearance on the charges Aug. 16 in Dakota County District Court in Hastings.


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