MANCHESTER — A Minnesota man publicly accused by Northern Iowa police of traveling across state lines to meet a juvenile for sexual activity is no longer facing Iowa criminal charges after prosecutors asked a judge to dismiss the case.
Robert Fenn Eselby III, 23, of Minneapolis, was arrested by Manchester police on February 27, 2026, following an undercover social-media investigation.
The arrest received widespread coverage after police issued a strongly worded public statement accusing Eselby of communicating with an undercover officer who was posing as a juvenile.
Police alleged Eselby was informed several times that the person was underage but continued the conversations, sent explicit photographs and videos, and arranged to travel to Manchester for sexual activity.
Officers took Eselby into custody after he arrived in Manchester and transported him to the Delaware County Jail.
Police further alleged that Eselby attempted to ask one of the arresting officers for a date during the booking process, behavior the department described in its public release as displaying a lack of remorse.
Authorities initially announced that Eselby had been charged with grooming, a Class D felony, and disseminating obscene material to a minor, a serious misdemeanor.
The criminal prosecution continued for nearly five months.
Eselby posted a $5,000 cash or approved surety bond on March 2. His attorney entered an appearance, requested discovery and waived a preliminary hearing.
Prosecutors formally advanced the felony case by filing trial information on April 3.
Eselby submitted a written plea of not guilty on April 27 and initially demanded a speedy trial. The case was later scheduled for a jury trial on August 5.
Police also sought permission to examine a blue iPhone 15 connected to the investigation.
A judge authorized the search through a separate search-warrant case created March 9. Court records show that proceeding remained open until August 3, nearly two weeks after the criminal charge was dismissed.
The state’s prosecution began moving toward dismissal in July.
Eselby’s attorney filed a motion on July 13 asking the court to decide legal questions and dismiss the case. A defense request for a continuance followed on July 15.
On July 21, Delaware County Attorney John Bernau filed the state’s own motion asking the court to dismiss the prosecution.
District Court Judge Stephanie Rattenborg granted the request that same day and dismissed the Class D felony grooming charge.
The dismissal occurred approximately two weeks before Eselby’s scheduled jury trial.
The court information supplied to NIT does not reveal why prosecutors requested dismissal, what legal issues were raised by the defense or whether evidence obtained from the phone affected the state’s ability to continue the case.
The records also do not indicate that Eselby entered a plea, admitted wrongdoing or was convicted of any offense arising from the Manchester investigation.
All publicly identified Iowa charges from the case have been dismissed.
State criminal charges are sometimes dropped when federal prosecutors take over an investigation, particularly when alleged conduct involves interstate travel, electronic communications or possible federal child-enticement laws.
Federal prosecutors have also pursued Iowa cases involving undercover officers posing as children online.
In one such case, a Waterloo man was sentenced to 14 years in federal prison after traveling to meet a person he believed was a 15-year-old child.
Another Iowa defendant received a lengthy federal sentence after attempting to meet an undercover officer posing as a minor for unlawful sexual activity.
However, there is no public indication thus far that Eselby has been federally charged or that the Iowa prosecution was dismissed in favor of a federal case.
A search of publicly available federal announcements and reports did not locate an indictment, criminal complaint or prosecution naming Eselby as of August 5.
That does not conclusively rule out an ongoing federal investigation, a sealed proceeding or future charges. It does mean no such development has been publicly announced.
The dismissal also does not establish that the police allegations were false. Prosecutors may dismiss cases for many reasons, including legal problems, evidentiary issues, unavailable witnesses or the inability to prove every required element beyond a reasonable doubt.
NIT has previously covered cases in which serious charges were dismissed after highly publicized arrests, illustrating that an arrest and accusation do not guarantee a conviction or even a trial.
In Eselby’s case, the outcome stands in sharp contrast to the attention surrounding the original arrest.
Northern Iowa media outlets widely repeated the police department’s accusations in early March, including the alleged explicit communications and the department’s statement concerning Eselby’s behavior during booking.
The later dismissal appears to have received little or no comparable news coverage.
Because the state ended the prosecution without securing a guilty plea or conviction, Eselby remains legally presumed innocent of the dismissed allegations.