BILLINGS - A failed candidate for the Montana Senate from Billings was charged Monday with trying to solicit sex from a 15-year-old girl.
Keith Michael Winkler, 23, was charged in Yellowstone County Justice Court with three felony offenses, including solicitation of sexual intercourse without consent, tampering with witnesses and informants, and solicitation of tampering with witnesses or informants.
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Winkler was a Republican candidate in a three-way primary race in June for Senate District 24 in Billings.
Winkler garnered the least votes, with 337. Tonya Shellnutt won the primary with 919 votes, and Rodney Garcia came in second with 406 votes.
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on May 1 when a woman met with a Yellowstone County sheriff's detective to report that her 15-year-old daughter had been receiving text messages of a sexual nature from Winkler.
The girl was interviewed on May 6 and reported that Winkler had sent her a message on Facebook asking for her phone number. The girl said she gave it to him because she assumed he was going to ask her to babysit his children.
Winkler began sending the girl text messages "very quickly," court records state, and she said it "got creepy" when Winkler told her he wanted to have sex with her.
The girl said the messages made her very uncomfortable, and that Winkler called her several times while also texting her "to make sure it was her he was texting," court records state.
The girl said she "grew paranoid after the texts that he was going to come to her house and carry out his plan."
The detective spoke with Winkler on May 13, but he declined to speak with the officer without first speaking to an attorney.
The detective later received Winkler's phone records through a search warrant. In the messages, Winkler allegedly stated his request to have sex with the girl, then tried to arrange a time for him to come visit her at her residence.
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That's when Winkler allegedly responded: "OK, well how about this ill (sic) come over on Monday on my lunch and we can see what happens but would you keep your mind open to letting me (have sex with you)," the court records state.
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Court records also state that Winkler allegedly asked his wife numerous times to contact the girl's mother and convince her not to go to the police. During one conversation, Winkler allegedly stated that he was prepared to withdraw from the Senate race if the girl did anything "selfish."
On May 26, Winkler post this to his "Keith Winkler for SD 24" Facebook page: "Ok as most of you might know my job has taken me elsewhere and I will not be able to serve the state of Montana having said this I wish all of my fellow conservatives good luck in the upcoming elections."
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