Man finds teen alone in car on Iron Range, rapes and beats her, charges say

After hours of drinking at two Iron Range bars, a 34-year-old man found a teenager asleep alone in her car near a bike trail and repeatedly sexually assaulted her in a terrorizing late-night attack that lasted at least 30 minutes, according to charges.

Owoidighe I. Ekanem, of Chisholm, Minn., remains jailed in lieu of $250,000 bail before a court appearance Thursday on two counts of first-degree criminal sexual conduct, kidnapping and assault.

The victim, identified in the charging document as being from Virginia, Minn., suffered a broken nose allegedly at the hands of Ekanem on Oct. 9 during the assault near Chisholm.

According to the criminal complaint, officers met with a distraught victim that night at a hospital, where she recounted what happened a few hours earlier:

She was to meet a friend and hang out in Chisholm. However, she was left waiting alone in her car at the disc golf course near the Mesabi bike trail access because her friend was running behind.

While waiting, she fell asleep about 1 a.m. and was awakened by a rap on the passenger window. She unlocked the doors, thinking it was her friend or possibly police. However, she saw a man she did not know.

The man, later identified as Ekanem, asked for her identification. He took it and said he was going to call police. After making it appear that he was making a call, Ekanem grabbed her phone and pulled her out of the car by her hair and hit her in the face several times.

Ekanem then used her sweatshirt as a hood over her head, preventing her from seeing him. He threatened to kill her if she disobeyed his commands.

She was thrown into the back seat of his vehicle, a small SUV, and driven around slowly for two to three minutes. Ekanem took her out of the SUV in a wooded area, raped her and forced her to perform oral sex before putting her back in his vehicle.

After driving around for a few more minutes, Ekanem got in the back seat and raped her again as she was lying on a child's booster seat. He returned her to her car and drove away. She said the attack lasted 30 to 45 minutes.

Officers learned that Ekanem had been at Valentini's Supper Club in Chisholm the entire evening and had four or five beers at the bar before heading over to Cheep Thrills Bar nearby, where he had drinks and left shortly after 2 a.m.

Ekanem's estranged wife said he drove an SUV and it had a child's booster seat in the back. She said he has a temper and once punched a hole in the wall after she denied him sex. She described him as a "monster" when he drinks.

In an interview with law enforcement, Ekanem denied having any contact with the teen, saying he was at a friend's residence, where he had been staying while apart from his wife. Ekanem's attorney, Hannah Forti, was not immediately available to address the allegations against her client.

Paul Walsh • 612-673-4482