Cass Lake woman sentenced in texting case

A Cass Lake woman was sentenced March 22 for a felony criminal charge after she sent about 1,600 sexually explicit text messages to a 15-year-old boy, the Cass County attorney's office reported.

Maria Elene Kremper, 33, was sentenced for felony communication of sexually explicit materials to a child to 15 months in prison, all of which was stayed while she serves three years of supervised probation.

In addition to probation, Kremper was sentenced to 60 days in jail, which can be served on home electronic monitoring; she must complete an adult sex offender treatment program and register as a predatory offender; and she is to have no contact with males under the age of 18.

Kremper's text messages to the boy were sent in August. She was sentenced under a law that went into effect Aug. 1 that prohibits adults from sending sexually explicit text messages to a minor or making other sexually explicit phone calls with a minor.

Cass County Attorney Christopher Strandlie said Kremper and the boy knew each other and possibly spent time together. What they could prove as a crime was the sent text messages, he said.

Though his office had investigated instances of sexually explicit text messages being sent from an adult to a minor before, it's the first time he's been able to prosecute it as a crime under the new law, Strandlie said.

"It's actually a pretty low-level felony, but it is a felony," Strandlie said. "It's inappropriate. Our concern is it leads to other things."