Hiroki Ito

A former Minot Public School paraprofessional who was arrested and charged with two felonies for communications with minors has now been charged with luring minors by computer, a Class B felony.

Hiroki Ito, 27, Minot, made his initial appearance on the new charge on Monday, which has been filed as a separate case from the initial charges of solicitation of a minor victim under 15 within 50 feet of a school, a Class B felony, and promoting obscenity to minors, a Class C felony.

According to court documents, Ito was a paraprofessional at Central Middle School beginning on Oct. 2. Ito was escorted off campus and placed on administrative leave after administration and the school resource officer received reports of possible inappropriate contact or relationships between him and three students.

According to court documents, the second case was brought after a thorough review of evidence from the first case, involving communications between Ito and one of the victims. The evidence included over 500 screenshots of messages between Ito and the victim from her phone.

The messages were allegedly sexual in nature. The investigator observed that Ito was aware the victim was 13 years old, and that Ito had deleted the messages on his device, but they were recoverable.

Ito is currently being held at the Ward County Jail, and has been scheduled for a preliminary hearing in the first case on Jan. 16, 2025.

Judge Todd Cresap has previously imposed a $60,000 cash or surety bond for Ito after his initial appearance in the first case, and declined Ito’s request to decrease the bond after a hearing Thursday. If Ito posts bond he will be barred from any contact with anyone under the age of 18, and have no access to the internet or any device with connection to the internet.