St. Cloud Man Sentenced for Raping Teen Girl

(KNSI) — A St. Cloud man who pleaded guilty to raping a 14-year-old girl is being sentenced to just over three years in prison.

According to the criminal complaint, May 25th, the girl left her house and was sitting under the 9th Avenue bridge near Lake George when she was approached by 26-year-old Austin Ouellette. He asked her for a cigarette and then the two were seen on city surveillance cameras walking around to different spots she mentioned when she spoke with police. Finally, they walked to Ouellette’s house on the 600 block of 9th Avenue South where they went into his room to watch a scary movie. When the movie ended, she said he got on top of her and started kissing her and threatened to hurt her and her family if she said anything. She told investigators he took off her clothing and sexually assaulted her before she was able to escape and run to a relative’s house before being rushed to CentraCare St. Cloud Hospital to be examined.

In a sworn statement, Ouellette admitted to meeting her and having sex with her.

He was charged with two counts of third degree criminal sexual conduct and pleaded guilty in August. As part of the deal, the other charge was dropped.

Prosecutors filed a motion to seek an aggravated sentence, which would have allowed the state to give him an extended prison sentence if convicted.

Judge Andrew Pearson sentenced Ouellette to 3.4 years in prison with credit for 211 days served. Under Minnesota law, he may be allowed to serve two-thirds of his sentence, with the rest served on supervised release. Ouellette was also sentenced to ten years’ probation and must also register as a predatory offender.

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