Youth pastor charged with soliciting girls

Published 8:48 am Tuesday, April 1, 2014

MINNEAPOLIS — A Minnesota youth pastor has been charged with trying to solicit nude photos from adolescent girls online.

A criminal complaint says 24-year-old Matthew Boos, of St. Louis Park, told investigators he had posed as a 15-year-old girl on Facebook and another social media site.

River Valley Church in Savage says it has fired Boos, who worked there for three years.

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The charges filed Monday relate to a girl from Pope County in western Minnesota, but a criminal complaint says Pope met many of his victims through his job as a youth pastor.

River Valley Church pastor Darin Poli said previously that Boos passed a background check before he was hired by the six-campus ministry. The church issued a statement Monday saying it was cooperating with law enforcement.