Beltrami County Sheriff's Department requests public's assistance

On Thursday, March, 22, 2017, Brandon Bjerkness, 34, of Bemidji, was placed in custody at the Beltrami County Jail for 2 counts of Solicitation of children to engage in sexual conduct. This investigation determined that Bjerkness, an assistant Principal for Bemidji Middle School, has been contacting juvenile children through Facebook, Snapchat and email accounts he had set up with a false identity using the name of Brett Larson- a 13-year-old male attending school at Morgan Park in Duluth (a school which has been closed for several years).

The Beltrami County Sheriff's Office is asking parents to talk with their children and determine if they have had any contact with "Brett Larson" on any of these social media accounts. If so, please contact the sheriff's office at 218-333-9111 and ask to speak with and investigator.

The Bemidji School District Officials assisted Beltrami Sheriff's investigators with this investigation. This investigation is continuing and no further details will be released at this time.

Sheriff Phil Hodapp