Police Arrest Man Accused of Soliciting Burnsville Teen for Sex

A St. Paul man who had been the subject of a nationwide warrant accusing him of soliciting a 15-year-old Burnsville girl for sex was arrested Tuesday in Ramsey County.  

Shawn Denton Van Hamm, 34, is charged with soliciting a child electronically to engage in sexual conduct, a felony with a maximum penalty of three years in prison and a $5,000 fine. 

According to the criminal complaint, the 15-year-old victim told a school liaison officer last December that her father’s friend, to whom she referred as Shawn, had visited their home on Dec. 18, 2011, and asked her to ride to a convenience store with him.

After they went to the store, the girl told police, she and Van Hamm went for a drive, and Van Hamm parked on a gravel road, where he asked the girl to take off her sweater and show him her breasts, and have sex with him.

The girl refused, but she told police that she and Van Hamm exchanged “many” sexually explicit text messages.

Police issued an arrest warrant for Van Hamm in March. He was arrested just before 1 p.m. Tuesday.

Van Hamm is scheduled to make a first appearance on the charge Sept. 5 in Dakota County District Court in Hastings.