Maple Grove Fire Chief Maddison Zikmund has been placed on leave after being charged with sexually assaulting a teenager a decade ago.

Zikmund is accused of sexually assaulting a 17-year-old girl after meeting her through a Fire Explorer program. At that time, the alleged victim was 16 and he was already a firefighter.

The victim described grooming behavior by Zikmund when talking to officers on June 30. According to the charges, the victim told officers that she and Zikmund began communicating over text messages before transitioning to other apps like Snapchat and Instagram.

According to the victim, Zikmund's messages grew increasingly sexual before he invited her over to his home in Blaine when she was 17. The victim alleges that Zikmund sexually assaulted her at his home, according to the charges.

When questioned by officers, Zikmund initially denied remembering a specific explorer from the program, but later admitted to exchanging pictures with a particular explorer. Zikmund then admitted to assaulting the teen, allegedly telling officers, Again, I know this was wrong.