A predatory offender who persuaded a 16-year-old girl to send him naked photos of herself changed his plea to guilty Friday in Mower County Court.

Brian Michael Legault, 28, of Rochester, pleaded guilty to one count of using a minor in a sexual performance/pornographic work, a felony. In exchange, two more of the same charges were dismissed.

According to the court complaint, Legault initially contacted the then 16-year-old on a social networking site called mocospace.com in October 2010. Detectives discovered that Legault was contacting the victim when local authorities received a report of a runaway that November. According to the complaint, the girl’s mother gave detectives several cell phones that contained useful information, including sexually explicit photos of the victim sent to a phone number later discovered as Legault’s.

The complaint states the victim admitted to sending the messages and confirmed the recipient was Legault, who asked for the photos. A Mower County detective then discovered Legault was on probation for a previous sex crime and contacted Legault’s probation officer in Rochester. According to the complaint, agents confronted Legault at his work and asked for his cell phone; however, Legault said it was at home. Detectives later discovered that Legault had the phone on him, and it appeared he deleted the photos and threw away his SD card, according to the complaint.

According to criminal records, Legault was convicted of a sex crime in Montana after he tried to meet with a 14-year-old girl but was discovered by an undercover agent. Legault is set to be sentenced on May 18. If convicted, he could face 10 years in jail and a $20,000 fine.