Byron man charged with electronic child solicitation

A Byron man appeared in Olmsted County District Court, last week on felony charges of electronic child solicitation, electronic communication with a child involving sexual conduct and electronically distributing sexual conduct material to a child.
According to court records William Douglas Pirkl, 48, entered not guilty pleas on all charges on April 24, and was released from detention on a non-cash bond on April 25.
He was arrested on April 22 after a Rochester Police Department investigation of child solicitation.
According to court records, beginning on April 7, 2025, a Rochester police detective began receiving messages on an undercover account he was operating which appeared to belong to a 14-year-old girl in Rochester.
A user named Iceman, who had a sexually explicit profile picture, messaged the account, court records said. The user said he was 42-years-old, asked for a photo, turned the conversation sexual and sent a series of nude photos of himself.
The detective determined the user was Pirkl and the court documents go on to claim that law enforcement had already contacted Pirkl in August 2024 after he showed a store employee an explicit photo and asked the employee to “get him a 16–17-year-old girl.”
The court documents allege that Pirkl sent explicit photos to the undercover account and suggested exual scenarios and meetings.
On April 22, according to the documents, Pirkl offered to pick the girl up from school and they agreed to meet at a Rochester restaurant. When Pirkl arrived at the meeting spot the undercover detective told him to come into the business and Pirkl was taken into custody and during a search his phone was taken. According to the court document Pirkl said he was at the restaurant to get food.
Pirkl’s next court appearance is a settlement conference on June 12, 2025. A pre-trial hearing is scheduled for March 3, 2026 and a jury trial for March 9, 2026.