Appeals Court Upholds Stearns County Father’s Rape Conviction, Rejecting Challenge Over Use of Facility Dog During Daughter’s Testimony

(KNSI) – The Minnesota Court of Appeals has dismissed a case brought by a Stearns County father convicted of raping his daughter after she was allowed to have Nova, the court’s facility dog, accompany her while on the stand.

In 2022, the girl told a teacher that her father, Jairo Missael Fernandez Sorto, had been sexually abusing her since 2016 when she was eight years old. She said the abuse continued several times a week for years, up until just days before she spoke about what was happening. Fernandez Sorto was charged with three counts of first-degree criminal sexual conduct.

He pleaded not guilty, and at his jury trial last year, prosecutors requested Nova join the girl as she testified. Fernandez Sorto’s attorneys argued that having the dog there would prejudice the jury against his client, but the judge disagreed. On the day of her testimony, Nova quietly lay at the teen’s feet for several hours while she recounted what happened to her. It marked the first time a facility dog had been used that way in state history.

Fernandez Sorto was convicted on all three counts and sentenced to 30 years.

His attorneys appealed to the higher court, saying the lower court abused its discretion by allowing the dog to be present. The higher court upheld his conviction and tossed out his appeal.

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