St. Louis Park attorney arrested in sex sting
By ANTHONY LONETREE

A St. Louis Park attorney is scheduled to appear in Hennepin County District Court Tuesday — accused of trying to arrange through an escort service to pay for sex with an underage girl.

But the escort service operator turned out to be a police informant and the “15-year-old” with whom the attorney was to have sex with last Friday was an undercover officer, according to a complaint filed Monday against Ian Laurie, 42.

Laurie, who lives in Maple Grove and who as an attorney specializes in employment law, is charged with the attempted solicitation of a child to engage in sexual conduct, a felony.

According to the complaint:

The informant told police last Thursday that Laurie had contacted him repeatedly over the past few months, “asking him to find a juvenile female for him to have sex with.” He added that he’d offered to set up Laurie with an 18-year-old, but that Laurie declined, saying the girl should be under 16.

Last Thursday, the informant contacted Laurie, saying that he had located a 15-year-old female, and that for a $185 fee, Laurie could have “full sex service.” But the escort service operator had found no such girl, and immediately after the two spoke, he called police.

On Friday, Laurie and the informant agreed to a reduced price of $100 after Laurie indicated that $185 “might be a problem.” During the subsequent meeting with the undercover officer, Laurie asked if she was 15, and after she said she was, he left but said he’d return in 10 minutes — hoping that by then the escort service operator would show up, too.

Instead, officers found Laurie at his office, and they arrested him, the complaint said. Bail was set at $75,000.

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