Third Suspect Convicted of Abducting and Raping a Woman in October 2020

(KNSI) — The final defendant in the case of a woman who was grabbed off of a street in downtown St. Cloud and sexually assaulted in October of 2020 has been convicted.

A Stearns County judge found Mohamed Hassan Abdi guilty of aiding and abetting kidnapping, aiding and abetting first-degree criminal sexual conduct, and two counts of first-degree criminal sexual conduct. Aggravating factors of committing the crime as part of a group of three or more persons who all actively participated in the crime, committing multiple forms of sexual penetration, and threatening the victim with death were also found to be valid.

According to the criminal complaint, on October 18th, 2020, Abdi and two others grabbed the woman while she was walking in the 700 block of West St. Germain Street and forced her into a car. The three are accused of sexually assaulting her as they drove around and at Haws Park in south St. Cloud.

Abdi opted for a bench trial versus a jury trial. A Stearns County jury found Abdirahin Omar Ali guilty of four first-degree criminal sexual conduct counts in connection to the crime. He will be sentenced on December 17th. Earlier this year, Sahal Abdi Hassan pleaded guilty to first-degree criminal sexual conduct for his role and was sentenced to 15 years in prison.

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