Man Accused Of Raping a Woman at a St. Cloud Park Pleads Guilty

(KNSI) – One of three men accused of grabbing a woman off a St. Cloud street, dragging her to a park, and raping her has pleaded guilty.

Sahal Abdi Hassan pleaded guilty to one count of aiding and abetting first-degree criminal sexual conduct in the October attack.

The evening of October 18th, a woman says she was walking in the 700 block of East St. Germain Street when a car pulled up, and four to five men grabbed her off the street and forced her into a car. For the next several hours, the woman says she was driven around by 25-year-old Hassan and two other men, 22-year-old Abdirahin Ali and 23-year-old Mohamed Abdi.

She says they drove her to Haws Park, took her out of the car, and Hassan raped her on a slide while the others cheered him on.

She told police she was then put back in the car and driven around while forced to perform oral sex on a man she identified as Ali.

The woman told police they kicked her out of the car in the early morning hours of October 19th, and she knocked on someone’s door to ask for help. She was taken to the hospital for an examination. Police say her underwear was torn, and wood chips from the park fell out of her pants. A sexual assault examination kit showed the presence of DNA from Hassan and Ali, but investigators say Abdi’s DNA could not be ruled out.

Hassan will be sentenced on April 21st.