Minot paraprofessional gets 3 years for exploiting middle school students

Hiroki Ito appeared before District Judge Todd Cresap on Friday, April 17, concluding a case that began when Minot Police investigated reports from parents who discovered sexual messages the paraprofessional had exchanged with a teenager. Ito was arrested in December 2024 and charged with solicitation of a minor under 15 within 50 feet of a school and luring by computer, both Class B felonies, plus one Class C felony count of promoting obscenity to minors. According to affidavits of probable cause, Ito had been communicating with up to three children—all ages 14 or younger—through multiple channels including text messages, phone calls, social media platforms, in-person meetups outside school, and "virtual sleepovers" conducted over video calls. The communications spanned a period that revealed a deliberate pattern of grooming behavior targeting vulnerable minors in the Minot school system. Ito entered an Alford plea on October 6, 2025, a legal maneuver in which a defendant maintains innocence while conceding prosecutors likely possessed sufficient evidence for conviction at trial. The plea was initially withdrawn due to procedural errors at the change of plea hearing, but was reinstated with both the state and defense agreeing to cap sentencing recommendations at three years. Judge Cresap imposed the concurrent 10-year sentence with all but three years suspended, followed by 10 years of supervised probation. The sentence included additional requirements: Ito must register as a sex offender for 15 years, maintain no contact with the victims or their families, and pay $1,500 in court fines and fees. He received credit for 569 days already served in custody. Defense attorney Gagan Bains had appealed for a sentence of time served with probation, but Cresap rejected that request in favor of the state's recommendation.