Lakeville Man Faces Additional Child Pornography Charges

A Lakeville man is facing new charges of possession of child pornography.

Samuel Josiah Benda, 20, with one count of third-degree criminal sexual conduct and one count of possession of child pornography after police say he had sex with a 15-year-old girl while he was 19 and then threatened to post explicit photos and videos of her online after they broke up.      

Benda is now charged with an additional felony count of possession of child pornography, which carries a maximum penalty of five years in prison and a $10,000 fine.

The criminal sexual conduct charge, which is still pending along with the initial child pornography charge, carries a maximum penalty of 15 years in prison and a $30,000 fine.  

According to the latest complaint against Benda, after police began investigating the initial complaint, they obtained a search warrant for his Lakeville home and searched his computer and cell phone.

Authorities didn’t find any images of the first victim, but they did find sexually explicit photos of Benda with a 17-year-old girl, according to the complaint.

Benda and his attorneys asked a judge in September to dismiss the initial charges, claiming that Benda, who was adopted from an orphanage in Sierra Leone, was actually 17 when the sexual contact occurred.

, ruling that Benda was 19 at the time. 

Benda, who was arrested July 29, remained in the Dakota County Jail Monday on a $50,000 bond. He is scheduled to make a first appearance on the latest child pornography charge Nov. 8 in Dakota County District Court in Hastings.