FARGO, N.D. – The lawyer for a former North Dakota Army National Guard soldier who has admitted to luring teenage girls over the Internet to have sex with him said Wednesday that his client’s side of the story will be told at sentencing.
Eric Sansburn, 30, of Grand Forks, pleaded guilty in federal court Tuesday to seven counts, including transportation of minors with intent to engage in sexual activity and coercion of a minor. He is scheduled to be sentenced on Jan. 21 before U.S. District Judge Ralph Erickson.
Authorities say Sansburn met the victims on social media sites and picked them up from their homes and schools for sexual encounters in the Grand Forks area. He allegedly had online chats with 90 different girls between the ages of 13 and 17.
"As is the norm in cases such as this, there is much more to the story than some would have you believe, and we look forward to presenting those facts to Judge Erickson at Eric's sentencing," defense attorney Tyler Morrow said.
Sansburn was a sergeant in the National Guard's military police unit. Morrow said his client is a decorated Iraqi war veteran who receives disability from the Veterans Administration for post-traumatic stress disorder.
U.S. Attorney Timothy Purdon declined to comment on the case.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Jennifer Puhl, the lead prosecutor, told the court that the father of one of the victims had called police after Sansburn came to his home to meet his teenage daughter. Another child in the home videotaped Sansburn from a bedroom window as Sansburn was leaving the house, she said.
The victim told police that someone she knew as Eric had communicated with her on Meetme.com.
Prosecutors plan to recommend a 30-year prison sentence. Defense attorneys are expected to ask for 10 years.
