A Republican Minnesota state lawmaker and married father of four was arrested Monday for attempting to solicit sex from a minor, according to local authorities.
State Sen. Justin Eichorn, 40, thought he was arranging to meet a 17-year-old girl for sex in Bloomington when he was actually communicating with police detectives, according to the Bloomington Police Department.
Eichorn was taken into custody without incident when he arrived in his pickup truck to meet the girl near the 8300 block of Normandale Ave., authorities said.
The state pol was booked into the Bloomington Police Department jail and transported to the Hennepin County Adult Detention Center.
Felony charges of soliciting an under 18-year-old to practice prostitution are pending from the Hennepin County Attorney’s Office, authorities said.
Eichorn did not respond to The Post’s request for comment.
“As a 40-year-old man, if you come to the Orange Jumpsuit District looking to have sex with someone’s child, you can expect that we are going to lock you up,” Bloomington Police Chief Booker Hodges said in a statement.
“I have always advocated stiffer penalties for these types of offenses,” Hodges added, urging the state legislature to “take this case and this type of conduct more seriously.”
Minnesota Senate Republican leadership demanded Eichorn’s “immediate resignation” Tuesday.
“We are shocked by these reports and this alleged conduct demands an immediate resignation,” the senate GOP said in a statement posted on X. “Justin has a difficult road ahead, and he needs to focus on his family.”
Minnesota Republican Party Chairman Alex Plechasha also demanded that Eichorn step down.
“As Republicans, we hold elected officials to a higher standard,” Plechasha said in a statement. “While Senator Eichorn is entitled to due process, the seriousness of these charges warrants his resignation.
“Public trust and accountability must come first.”
Eichorn, a native of Grand Rapids, Minn., has served in the state senate since 2017.
On the day of his arrest, he was one of five Republican co-sponsors to introduce a bill classifying “Trump Derangement Syndrome,” or “TDS,” as a mental illness.
“Trump derangement syndrome” is defined as “acute onset of paranoia in otherwise normal persons that is in reaction to the policies and presidencies of President Donald J. Trump,” according to the bill.