The Woodbury Math and Science Academy badminton coach has been arrested and charged with seeking to pay for sex from someone he believed was a minor.

Jamey Scott Ralph Strand, 44, of River Falls, Wis., was taken into custody Sunday after allegedly trying to meet with a 14-year-old girl who turned out to be a detective with the Mankato Police Department. He was charged Tuesday in Blue Earth County District Court with soliciting a child through electronic communication to engage in sexual conduct.

He’s scheduled to make an initial appearance on the charge on Thursday. An attorney is not listed in his court file to address the allegations.

According to the criminal complaint, the undercover detective on Aug. 14 logged into an online chat room and listed his gender as an 18-year-old woman. The minimum age the chat room allows a user to select is 18.

Strand, who went by the username OkobojiM4F, reached out first. The detective told Strand that he was a 14-year-old girl and in the ninth grade. Strand responded with, “Cool, Im (sic) ok with that if you are,” the complaint alleges.

The undercover detective asked Strand if they could change to the social networking app Kik, and he agreed. Strand then sent a photo of himself and asked for photos of her.

Strand, on several occasions, then mentioned wanting to perform sex acts on her, while also asking for a bra size and if she wore thong underwear. Strand asked, “ever taken naughty pics?” and wrote that he could “teach you sexual stuff,” the complaint continues.

Strand then asked the purported girl if she wanted to go to his cabin in Iowa and stay the night with him. He offered to pick her up in Mankato.

A meeting was scheduled for Aug. 19, but Strand did not show up; he said he panicked and that maybe they could try again when he drove through Mankato.

On Sunday, Strand reached out again and asked to meet up. He was arrested after a traffic stop in St. Peter.

In an interview at the county jail, Strand admitted that his messages with who he thought was a 14-year-old girl were “sexual in nature” and that the purpose of meeting up would be to have sex, the complaint says. Strand said his plan was to take the girl back to his camper in Iowa, as his wife was going to be gone for a few days.

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Strand also admitted to communicating with who he thought were two other girls under the age of 16, the complaint says.

According to Math and Science Academy executive director Kate Hinton, Strand was the charter school’s badminton coach last season.

“Math and Science Academy was recently made aware of the arrest of a staff member for alleged criminal conduct unrelated to school activities,” Hinton said. “This individual has been terminated immediately and will have no further affiliation with the school. Our top priority is the safety and well-being of our students. We are cooperating fully with law enforcement and have made counseling staff available to support any students who may need it.

Nick Ferraro contributed to this report.

Fourteen-year-old Patty Barton, or Patty Sue to her dad, has had the ‘typical’ teenage relationship with her parents, she said. There are ups and downs, but she always expected her parents would be there.

That is until November 2024, when her dad suffered a heart attack. A shock to her family of six. Her father, Zach Barton, stayed in the hospital for 11 days and underwent triple bypass surgery.

“After Dad’s heart attack, he and I got a lot closer,” Patty said. “I realized I wasn’t going to take things for granted anymore.”

Patty has been in Girl Scouts since kindergarten and is preparing to receive her Silver Award, one of the highest achievements in Girl Scouting involving a community issue that requires at least 50 hours of volunteer service.

Patty’s project is one she advocated for following her father’s heart attack. When he was in the hospital, she overheard doctors tell him he needed to pick up a low-impact sport, and biking fit the criteria. Her project, a Dero Fixit Bike Repair Station installed in Powers Lake Park near their Woodbury home, is a spot where bikers can stop and fill their tires, fix a flat or adjust about anything on a bike.

“I wanted to do this and dedicate it to my dad because he scared me there for a while, that he wasn’t going to be able to keep his promise to me and walk me down the aisle,” Patty said, tearing up, as her father went to hold her hand.

An unexpected hospital stay

In early November, while doing yard work, Zach Barton felt a sudden pain in his chest. A few days after visiting the emergency room, he experienced a mild heart attack.

The heart attack came as a surprise, he said. He’d always been healthy, eaten better than the average person, exercised regularly, never smoked and wasn’t diabetic, so it wasn’t caused by any of the things people tend to associate with heart attacks, he said.

What he does have is familial hypercholesterolemia, a genetic disorder that causes high cholesterol in the body, which is what ultimately led to the heart attack.

For 11 days, Barton stayed in the hospital, missing Thanksgiving with his family, he said.

“Healing was a slow process for eight weeks,” he said. “I couldn’t lift above 10 pounds. I had to sleep kind of upright and anytime that I coughed, it hurt ever so bad.”

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Patty, who believes herself to be a ‘model Girl Scout,’ someone who is a go-getter, innovator, risk-taker and leader, had her heart set on her Silver Award project for months before the heart attack. Her first few ideas: outdoor classrooms for local schools. However, three separate times, her projects fell through.

When her dad was in the hospital, her priorities changed.

“I had given up hope on my silver,” Patty said. “I was like, ‘I’ve already gotten three rejections, Dad’s in the hospital, this is the last thing I need to be worried about right now.’”

Until she overheard that conversation between her parents and her father’s cardiologist, who recommended a low-impact sport.

“Biking is a form of low-impact exercise,” Patty said.

The Fixit Bike Repair Station

Danny Barton fills his bike tire with air, using his older sister Patty Barton’s Girl Scout Silver Award project, the Fix It Bike Station, Tuesday, Aug. 27, 2025 at Powers Lake in Woodbury. From left, Allie Barton, Danny Barton, Zach Barton and Patty Barton. (Talia McWright/Pioneer Press)

When Patty was younger, she and her family would bike together regularly, and during the early years of the COVID pandemic, they even committed to biking 100 miles together one season, resulting in the grand prize of a family visit to Chuck E Cheese.

Reminiscing on the memories she had of biking with her dad, the idea for the Fixit station came to Patty, as she’d seen one at a national park many years ago. She presented the idea to her troop leader (her mom, Joanna) and explained why exactly her idea was important.

“This bike Fixit station is there to help the community and to make sure that other girls can continue biking with their dads,” Patty said.

The repair station includes ‘all the tools necessary to perform basic bike repairs and maintenance,’ according to Dero. Tools attached to the station can change a flat tire, adjust brakes and derailleurs, fill tires with air, assist in changing seat levels and more. The station also includes a QR code that can be scanned to explain use and provides a map of all other Fixit stations in the state.

While there is one other FixIt station in Woodbury, Patty said, it’s all the way in Carver Lake Park, on the opposite side of town.

“I am hoping that there will be more of these in Woodbury because Woodbury is extending their trails,” Patty said. “I am hoping that there will be more of these because I’ve been in a sticky situation where I don’t have a bike pump on me or I’ve thrown a chain while mountain biking.”

A stronger father-daughter bond

After being released from the hospital on Dec. 1, 2024, Zach Barton said all four of his children were by his side, every step of the way.

“Any time that I would call, or if they were within 10 feet of me, and they saw that I was in pain, they’d come and squeeze my arm and latch onto my arm until I finished coughing, bring me my heart pillow, bring me water, bring me whatever it was, and say, ‘Dad, are you okay? Is there anything else that you need?’”

Patty, whose birthday is Dec. 19, said she was happy that her dad was able to be there to see her turn one year older, and that the two could continue their tradition of hanging Christmas lights together. Except this time, when her dad tried to leave the house, she would yell at him to go back inside and rest. It was out of love, she said, as his close friends were there to help hang the lights while he watched in support.

Now the family takes turns going on daily bike rides with their dad, something Patty said she’ll never again overlook.

“I’m trying to prioritize health, I’m trying to prioritize diet, so it gives me the best chance for longevity,” Zach Barton said. “All four of these amazing kids and my wonderful wife are there helping me.”

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In the spring, Patty will receive her Silver Girl Scout Award for her Fixit bike station project, which she paid for using money she’d saved from selling Girl Scout cookies. The station itself cost $2,200, a couple of years’ worth of cookie sales. The city paid for the concrete pad and installation, her father said.

“I think she did an amazing job. I think it was worth Gold,” 10-year-old brother and Boy Scout Danny Barton said. “If I were a Girl Scout, I don’t think I could do a better solo project.”

Recently, Patty was sent a Facebook post from a Woodbury resident who’d snapped a picture of the station and captioned it, ‘Thank you to whoever did this. I got a flat and I really appreciate it.’ The post brought a smile to her face; it wasn’t just helpful for her family, but for her broader community too.

The video went viral on social media shortly after veteran receiver Adam Thielen learned that the Vikings had acquired him in a trade with the Carolina Panthers. That meant the local boy from Detroit Lakes was heading back to the Minnesota.

As he celebrated the moment of euphoria with his family, his wife Caitlin immediately took to Instagram, posting a clip of Thielen jumping up and down with their 4-year-old daughter Cora, shouting, “We’re going home! We’re going home! We’re going home!”

The heartwarming exchange has been shared countless times over the past 24 hours.

“That was pretty cool,” Thielen said on Thursday afternoon while standing at a podium and talking to reporters in the Twin Cities. “A memory that I’ll never forget.”

Not long after Thielen was done celebrating with his family, he hopped on a plane, shifting his mindset from getting ready for practice with the Panthers in North Carolina to preparing for a reunion with the Vikings in Minnesota.

As answered questions about the homecoming, smiling form ear to ear, Thielen admitted that he wasn’t sure it was going to happen. He’s pretty active on social media, so he had seen the rumors of the potential move, as well as the reports that negotiations between the Vikings and the Panthers had stalled out.

“I was focusing on what I could control,” Thielen said. “I knew that there was a very realistic possibility that it would not happen.”

The compensation was the sticking point for both sides. How much were the Vikings willing to give up? How much did the Panthers need to make it worth their while?

Eventually, the Vikings came to the table with an offer the Panthers couldn’t refuse, agreeing to a deal that more or less amounted to a pair of picks swaps. It wasn’t worth splitting hairs any longer considering the impact Thielen would make on and off the field.

“I couldn’t be more excited,” Thielen said. “You guys know without me even saying it how much this place means to me.”

As he wandered the familiar hallways at TCO Performance Center, Thielen spotted superstar receiver Justin Jefferson, likening it to how a couple of friends going away to college and reunite back in their hometown like no time had passed.

“That’s how I felt with Justin,” Thielen said. “It was like we’ve never been on a different team.”

As much as Thielen appreciated his time with the Panthers, he couldn’t contain his feelings of joy to be back with the Vikings.

“I’m going to make sure this emotion doesn’t fade away,” Thielen said. “It’s going to be hopefully something that lasts my entire time here.”

The uniqueness of the situation isn’t lost on him. He joked that he didn’t think he’d be standing at a podium and talking to reporters in the Twin Cities until he was announcing his retirement from the NFL.

“This is pretty surreal,” Thielen said. “I’m going to take advantage of every second I’m going to be back in this building.”

Not to mention every second he and his family are back in Minnesota where they belong.

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By REENO HASHIMOTO

TOKYO (AP) — Mount Fuji hasn’t erupted since 1707. But for Volcanic Disaster Preparedness Day, Japanese officials have released computer- and AI-generated videos showing a simulation of a potential violent eruption of the active volcano.

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The videos, released this week, are meant to prepare the 37 million residents in the greater Tokyo metropolitan area for potential disasters.

The Tokyo Metropolitan Government’s video warns an eruption could strike “at any moment, without warning,” depicting volcanic ash shrouding central Tokyo, about 100 kilometers (60 miles) away, within hours, paralyzing transportation, disrupting food and power, and causing long-term respiratory problems.

The video ends with the message: “We need to arm ourselves with facts and prepare for disaster in our daily lives.” It shows a family’s pantry stocked with canned food and a first-aid kit.

The Tokyo government said in a statement that there are currently no signs of Fuji erupting. “The simulation is designed to equip residents with accurate knowledge and preparedness measures they can take in case of an emergency,” it explained.

But the videos have caused anxiety and confusion among some residents.

“Are there actually any signs of eruption?” said Shinichiro Kariya, a 57-year-old hospital employee. “Why are we now hearing things like ‘10 centimeters of ash could fall,’ even in Tokyo? I’m wondering why this is happening all of a sudden.”

Hiromi Ooki, who lives in Mishima City, which has prime views of Fuji, said she planned to buy emergency supplies the next day. “Nature’s power is so great that maybe it’s better if it scares us a little,” she said.

Representatives of both the Tokyo Metropolitan Government and Japan’s Cabinet Office Disaster Prevention Division said they had not received complaints from Tokyo residents about the videos.

University of Tokyo professor and risk communication expert Naoya Sekiya said the government has for years modeled scenarios for volcanic eruptions and earthquakes, but added that does not mean Fuji is about to erupt.

“There’s no particular significance to the timing,” Sekiya said.

Japan is highly vulnerable to natural disasters because of its climate and topography and is known for its meticulous disaster planning which spans earthquakes, typhoons, floods, mudslides and volcanic eruptions.

The Japan Meteorological Agency last August issued its first-ever “megaquake advisory” after a powerful quake struck off the southeastern coast of the southern main island of Kyushu.

Of the world’s roughly 1,500 active volcanoes, 111 are in Japan, which lies on the Pacific “Ring of Fire.”

Fuji, Japan’s tallest peak, used to erupt about every 30 years, but it has been dormant since the 18th century.

Video journalist Ayaka McGill contributed to this report.