Charges: Onetime Minnesota camp counselor sexually assaulted 2 teen girls

A 37-year-old Blaine man has been charged with sexually assaulting two teenage girls from a summer camp in central Minnesota where he had worked as a counselor and program director for many years.

In a criminal complaint filed last week in Anoka County, Scott F. Fortier was charged with two counts of criminal sexual conduct and using a minor in producing pornography.

Fortier remains jailed in lieu of $300,000 bail ahead of a Jan. 23 hearing. His attorney, Lawrence Rapoport, said Wednesday that he's not ready to comment on his client's behalf because there is a lot of evidence the prosecution has yet to disclose to the defense.

According to the charges:

In late December, a 15-year-old girl told law enforcement that Fortier, who had been a Circle R Ranch camp worker in Long Prairie previously but was there this past summer just to visit and hang out, invited her and a 17-year-old girl to his home in September.

The younger teen said the three went into his hot tub nude, and he touched the 15-year-old sexually after the other girl had left.

He and the 15-year-old then had sex in his house. She woke up the next day beside him in bed and couldn't recall the intercourse.

A law enforcement search of Fortier's home turned up videos taken on a smartphone showing his face, and the genitalia of him and the 15-year-old. A second video showed him having intercourse with her while she was motionless and quiet. Other videos and photos showed the girl in his garage nude and stumbling about.

In a complaint filed earlier in Todd County, an 18-year-old reported that Fortier sexually assaulted her several times at the ranch in the summer of 2014. She told authorities that Fortier supervised her and the other junior camp counselors, was seen as a mentor and would provide her and other teens with alcohol.

The camp's owner, Jack McCoy, was not available Wednesday to comment about the charges against his former counselor.

Paul Walsh • 612-673-4482