Audubon man sentenced for posting sexually graphic photo on Facebook, making violent threats
May 7—DETROIT LAKES, Minn. — Michael William Kurkowski, 56, of Audubon, has been sentenced in Becker County District Court for felony nonconsensual dissemination of private sexual images and felony threats of violence.
According to court records, on June 26, 2023, a Becker County sheriff's investigator was notified that Kurkowski had posted a very explicit photo on his Facebook profile of an area woman engaging in a sexual act.
The investigator confirmed the allegations, and the woman reported that Kurkowski posted the pictures because she brought a civil lawsuit against him.
The woman said Kurkowski must have taken the picture of her while they dated. She did not know he took the photo and did not give him consent to have the photo or to send or post it anywhere.
That was Kurkowski's fourth open criminal case involving the same woman.
He pleaded guilty on an Alford basis on Feb. 15, and on March 19, District Judge Michael Fritz issued a stay of imposition. Successful completion of probation will result in a misdemeanor conviction.
Kurkowski was ordered to serve 42 days in jail, with credit for 42 days served. He was fined $500 plus $150 in court fees, and was placed on supervised probation for five years. He was ordered not to use or possess firearms, ammunition or explosives; to complete a comprehensive assessment and follow recommendations, including aftercare; not drink or use mood-altering chemicals, and to have no contact with the victim.
He was also sentenced to 42 days (time served) on a misdemeanor charge of domestic abuse. Charges of bringing contraband into jail (a gross misdemeanor) and of felony fifth-degree controlled substance crime were dropped in a plea agreement.
He was also sentenced on March 18 on the felony threats charge.
According to court records, on Jan. 25, 2024, a woman reported that she received threats in a voicemail while at her home. The phone number belongs to Kurkowski, who said in the message that he will find the woman by the airport where "her dad" has a house and she will not like anything he does or has done to her.
Kurkowski added that he "will tie (the woman's) dad to something in his basement and set the house on fire." He said in the message that he "knows where (the woman) lives, he knows what she looks like, and he knows her phone number."
A police investigator identified the voice on the voicemail as being Kurkowski's, recognizing the voice from multiple prior contacts with him. The woman stated she and her husband live near the airport and that she was afraid for their safety.
On the felony threats charge, he was sentenced to 30 days time served, and ordered to pay a $500 fine plus $160 in court fees.
Felony charges of forgery and aggravated forgery — for forging the woman's name on three vehicle titles that she and he owned together — were also dismissed as part of the plea agreement.
According to court records, at an order for protection hearing held on Feb. 6 in Becker County District Court, Kurkowski was informed that he was not to possess any firearms, and was asked if he had any guns.
Kurkowski testified under oath that he did not possess any firearms and that any guns were in Michigan at a relative's residence. He testified that "they are not in my possession. Not at all."
But on June 30, during a search at his home in Audubon, officers found an AR-15 rifle, ammunition magazines and ammunition inside a closet in an upstairs bedroom. He lived at his residence alone.
Kurkowski is now prohibited from possessing any type of firearm for life.
