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Rochester, MN (KROC-AM News) - A Rochester man arrested last fall on multiple felony assault charges has worked out a plea agreement to settle three criminal cases against him.

18-year-old Jacob Bale today entered guilty pleas to two counts of second-degree assault and a charge of contributing to a child being a runaway. In exchange, Olmsted County prosecutors agreed to dismiss a number of other charges, including aiding and abetting the dissemination of pornographic work.

The assault charges stemmed from separate incidents that occurred last October. In one case, Bale was accused of striking a juvenile male on the head with a machete during an altercation over the theft of some jewelry from Bale's grandmother.

Traditional machete blade isolated on white
macbrianmun
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The other incident involved a confrontation between Bale and the father of a missing Stewartville girl. The juvenile girl was with Bale when they were spotted by her father and one of his friends walking along North Broadway in Rochester. According to the criminal complaint, Bale began punching and kicking the men before he pulled out a knife.

Kim David/Townsquare Media
Kim David/Townsquare Media
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The pornography-related charge alleged that Bale, who was in the Olmsted County Jail at the time, conspired with another man to post a nude photo of the juvenile victim of the machete attack on a social media site with a caption saying he was a "snitch." The criminal complaint indicates the photo had been taken at a party "under circumstances such that the victim did not expect anyone else to ever see it." Most of the evidence in the case involved a recording of a phone conversation between Bale and 19-year-old Robert Hall, who has been charged with dissemination of pornographic work and nonconsensual dissemination of private sexual images.

(transcript of a portion of the conversation below)

Robert Hall complaint-Olmsted County Court
Robert Hall complaint-Olmsted County Court
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Bale is scheduled to be sentenced on April 5. The plea agreement does not include a recommended sentence. State sentencing guidelines call for a prison sentence ranging from 12 to 33 months.

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