Man Sentenced to 30 Years in Prison For Raping His Daughter

(KNSI) – A St. Cloud man has been sentenced to 30 years in prison for raping his daughter.

In October 2022, a 14-year-old girl told a teacher her father was sexually abusing her. She says Jairo Missael Fernandez Sorto started sexually abusing her in 2016 when she was eight. Officials say the abuse continued two or three times a week for years. The 37-year-old allegedly was worried the victim could have gotten pregnant and bought her the Plan B pill on at least two occasions.

A Stearns County jury convicted Sorto in April on three counts of first-degree criminal sexual conduct.

Prosecutors say the case marked the first time in Minnesota where a county facility therapy dog was allowed to accompany a witness on the stand during trial testimony. Nova joined the attorney’s office in 2019. In that time, she has helped many victims and witnesses with meet with prosecutors in preparation for trial, but this was the first case in which a dog was allowed to accompany the victim on the witness stand during testimony.

Sorto was sentenced on Thursday afternoon by the Honorable Judge Laura Moehrle.

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