 A former Bemidji Middle School assistant principal pled guilty today in Beltrami County Court to sex crimes against minors. Haiti Clotter was in the courtroom and has details. Well, Brandon Bjorkness is a predator. He preyed on unsuspecting middle-aged students. Nearly 30 people packed the courtroom to see a former Bemidji Middle School assistant principal plead guilty to four counts of engaging in electronic communication relating to or describing sexual conduct with the child. This case broke because parents notified law enforcement of disturbing communications that their children were involved with online. Parents of the victim sat in silence as Bjorkness answered questions from prosecutor David Frank. Chief Judge Paul Benchouf wanted clarification if Bjorkness knew the identity of the victims, so Frank approached Bjorkness on the stand with the names of the 14s and Bjorkness confirmed he knew who they were. While on the stand, Bjorkness said he used Facebook and Snapchat to communicate with minors and he admitted those conversations were unprofessional and sexual in nature. A penalty for the state charges are three years imprisonment and we expect the defendant to be sentenced within the Minnesota Sentencing Guidelines. During the hearing, Bjorkness disclosed he initiated the sexual chats and they all took place on or about January 2017 to March 2017 in Beltrami County. According to the complaint, Bjorkness created a fake profile under the name Brett Larson. Some of the 55 victims between the ages of 13 and 14 years old were students at Bemidji Middle School. One parent released a statement to Lakeland News that reads in part, this was no mistake, this was no misunderstanding, this was calculated and perverted and he used his position of authority in the middle school to help him. By pleading guilty, Bjorkness waives his right to a trial. We reached out to his attorney Peter Wold but he had no comment. On September 28th, Bjorkness appeared in federal court and is still awaiting sentencing for felony charges of child coercion and enticement and child pornography production. Trial would entail very embarrassing details of what the school aged on. So we are happy that he took responsibility and pled to all of the state charges. Bjorkness remains in federal custody. He's scheduled to appear in state district court on January 10th for sentencing. No sentencing date has been set for the federal charges. In Bemidji, Haiti Claude are Lakeland News. And Bjorkness pled guilty to those federal charges previously and faces a minimum of 15 years and up to life in prison he will have to register as a sex offender. If you've enjoyed this segment of Lakeland News, please consider making a tax deductible contribution to Lakeland Public Television.