Republican state senator arrested on suspicion of soliciting 16-year-old for sex

Minnesota police say that a Republican state senator was caught in a sting operation involving attempted solicitation of minors for sex.

The Bloomington Police Department said an undercover officer pretending to be a 16-year-old girl was propositioned by 40-year-old state Sen. Justin Eichorn of Grand Rapids. Eichorn allegedly agreed to meet the person he believed to be a female minor on Monday.

'Justin has a difficult road ahead and he needs to focus on his family.'

Eichorn was arrested after arriving at the arranged location on Normandale Avenue in a pickup and was booked into the Bloomington Police Department jail. Police said a felony charge of soliciting a minor to practice prostitution is pending against him.

“As a 40-year-old man, if you come ... looking to have sex with someone’s child, you can expect that we are going to lock you up,” said Bloomington Police Chief Booker Hodges.

"I have always advocated stiffer penalties for these types of offenses," he added. "We need our state legislature to take this case and this type of conduct more seriously.”

Minnesota Senate Republicans called for Eichorn's resignation in the wake of the heinous allegations.

“We are shocked by these reports and this alleged conduct demands an immediate resignation," the statement read. "Justin has a difficult road ahead and he needs to focus on his family."

Eichorn has been a state senator for nine years. He made headlines when he proposed a law that would make "Trump derangement syndrome" a mental illness. He is married with four children.

Video of Eichorn can be viewed on WCCO-TV's news report on YouTube.

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