A Bismarck man who police say used social media to commit dozens of sex crimes involving girls as young as 13 years old will defend himself before a jury next year.
21-year-old Dawson Rouse says he’s not guilty of the 26 felonies and eight misdemeanors police have charged him with, ranging from solicitation and luring to gross sexual imposition. Court records show he had his preliminary hearing waived on Monday.
A four-day jury trial has been scheduled to begin on Jan. 25, 2021.
Police say in an affidavit that Rouse pressured several teenage girls into sending him explicit photos via Snapchat, and convinced some of them to sneak out of their homes at night to meet with him and, in some cases, engage in sexual activity.
