RICE COUNTY, Minn.- A lorry driver allegedly visited a sex site before causing a crash that killed an unborn child.
According to PEOPLE, 52-year-old semi-driver Joel Adam Sassmann was suspected of using a sex site before rear-ending several cars. According to the publication, one of the vehicles struck was a pregnant mother driving with her three young children at the time, and the unborn child perished as a result of the collision.
According to PEOPLE, Sassmann rear-ended a Chevy Suburban, which then struck a Ford Escape, which then hit a Honda Accord, which was pushed into a ditch. According to the magazine, the Escape collided with a Volvo SUV, which in turn collided with another Ford Escape.
Sassmann was charged with a criminal vehicular operation causing the death of an unborn child in connection with the collision, which occurred in Rice County, Minnesota in August 2023.
According to a probable cause statement, PEOPLE reported that the woman, who was 31 weeks pregnant, was sent to the hospital. An emergency C-section was done at the hospital, but the infant died from blunt force trauma, according to the report.
Authorities accused Sassmann of exploring and sending messages on a sex site before the crash.
“The defendant also did not have his full attention dedicated to the act of driving his vehicle,” police said in a statement obtained by CBS2iowa. “There is evidence that the defendant accessed websites and sent text messages on his cell phone just before the crash. If the defendant had been observant of the halted traffic, he could have safely slowed his car and avoided the incident.”
According to authorities, the victim’s children, ages one, three, and four, were hospitalized as a result of the crash.