Inver Grove Heights man charged with multiple counts of child sexual abuse material possession
Published: March 30th, 2026
INVER GROVE HEIGHTS MN: An Inver Grove Heights man has been charged with multiple felony counts of possession of child sexual abuse material, according to a criminal complaint filed in Dakota County District Court.
According to the complaint, on January 20, 2026, a detective with the Inver Grove Heights Police Department received a CyberTip from the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension (BCA) and the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC) regarding suspected child sexual abuse material (CSAM) associated with a residence in Inver Grove Heights.
The complaint states that investigators obtained subpoenas for accounts used to access the material and identified the user as Shane Allan Herman (DOB: 01/14/1972), the defendant.
Law enforcement executed a search warrant at the Inver Grove Heights residence on January 28, 2026, and seized electronic devices. A subsequent warrant was obtained to examine the contents of those devices, according to the complaint. During an interview with investigators, the defendant stated that he had possessed and viewed CSAM, the complaint alleges.
According to the complaint, a forensic examination conducted by the Dakota County Electronic Crimes Task Force identified 11,565 suspected CSAM and child sexual exploitation material (CSEM) image files on the seized devices.
The complaint further alleges that files downloaded in September 2025 remained on the devices at the time of the search. Investigators also located electronic communications in which the defendant expressed interest in committing sexual offenses involving minors, according to the complaint.
On March 5, 2026, the detective received an additional CyberTip from NCMEC indicating that the defendant had obtained additional suspected CSAM on February 24, 2026, after the initial search warrant had been executed, according to the complaint.
The defendant is charged with multiple counts of possession of child sexual abuse material involving minors under the age of 14.
The complaint requests issuance of a warrant, citing public safety concerns.
The defendant is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty in a court of law.
