A Minneapolis businessman charged Friday with possession of child pornography is suffering from a debilitating brain disease that leads to changes in behavior, his family said.
Gregory Matthew Dolphin, 62, was charged with a single felony count, but the investigation continues, according to the Hennepin County attorney's office. He is jailed in lieu of $100,000 bail and is expected to make his first court appearance Monday.
Dolphin retired as CEO of Dolphin Fast Food, a multiunit Burger King franchisee and a property of the Dolphin Group Cos., when all the restaurants were sold last year, said spokesman Thomas Dolphin.
Thomas Dolphin said in a statement that Greg Dolphin received a Mayo Clinic diagnosis last June of "frontotemporal degeneration, a progressive brain disease that can result in changes in personality, impaired judgment and impulsive behaviors."
"Since that diagnosis, the Dolphin family has taken steps to assist Greg in his care," Thomas Dolphin wrote. "Obviously, we are shocked and saddened by these allegations involving his personal behavior."
More than a third of people with frontotemporal dementia (FTD) act out criminal behaviors, including theft, traffic violations (with or without the influence of drugs or alcohol), violence and hypersexuality, according to a March 2015 study published in JAMA Neurology, a medical journal published by the American Medical Association.
Greg Dolphin remains a minority shareholder in some of the Dolphin operating companies (including a diversified collection of mercantile ventures, such as Dolphin Staffing, 21st Century Bank and various real estate holdings). However, he does not have a management role, Thomas Dolphin said.
Dolphin's mother, Dorothy Dolphin, founded the agency and other businesses. He is the nephew of the late billionaire Carl Pohlad, who owned the Twins.
