Edina man civilly committed as a sexually dangerous person for assaults as Wis. student

A 27-year-old Edina man was taken into custody over the weekend after a Hennepin County judge ruled he should be civilly committed as a sexually dangerous person.

Alec Ross Cook, a level three sex offender convicted of multiple sexual assaults while in college in Wisconsin, was arrested Saturday after District Judge Michael Browne's 250-page ruling Friday. Browne took the case under advisement in May following Cook's lengthy trial in mental health court where parties argued about Cook's likelihood to reoffend. At least 11 women, mostly strangers, accused him of stalking, choking and assaulting them before he was arrested in 2016 and later expelled from the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

Cook faced 21 felony charges and pleaded guilty to five offenses. He served a three-year prison sentence — outraging some Wisconsin legislators who found the term too lenient when the maximum penalty was 40 years and prosecutors wanted at least 19 years.

In anticipation of his release in 2021, prosecutors Brittany Lawonn and Elizabeth Beltaos lodged a case to have him locked up at the Minnesota Sex Offender Program (MSOP).

There are around 740 men being treated at MSOP after designated by the courts as "sexually dangerous" or as having "sexual psychopathic personalities."

Browne ruled for Cook to be designated as sexually dangerous and will formally share his decision in court Aug. 21 at a review hearing. Cook will remain for an indeterminate time at MSOP, "a secure setting for the purposes of public safety," Browne wrote.

"Up to the point in which he was caught in Wisconsin, [Cook] engaged in a course of harmful sexual conduct over a year and half, which was due to a diagnosis of a sexual, personality, or other mental disorder or dysfunction," Browne wrote. "As a result, [Cook] is likely to engage in acts of harmful sexual conduct unless all of his disorders can be appropriately treated."

The judge could have dismissed the case or ordered Cook to serve a less restrictive option that would involve treatment along with supervised release until 2026. He considered Cook's testimony and the opinions of three psychologists who were split on whether Cook should be civilly committed.

All experts testified about the "profound harm suffered by sexual assault victims," and concluded that Cook suffers from an array of mental disorders, including sexual sadism, Browne wrote. He added that Cook testified that he no longer suffers from sexual sadism, but Browne said it's an enduring condition that "does not disappear."

Cook testified that if women told him no, "I thought it was something to overcome" and "convince them otherwise." Asked to rate on a scale of one to 10 his risk of reoffending, Cook said three.

"He admits that he viewed women as objects and not humans," Beltaos said during Cook's three-week bench trial.

Beltaos said Cook continues to lack remorse — at times he faked crying on the witness stand, which was noted in Browne's ruling — and has regressed in treatment. In a college human sexuality course, Cook's class notes mention sexual coercion and the impact of rape on victims. Beltaos asked if he learned rape was illegal. Cook said "probably."

Cook's offenses, beginning in 2014 until his arrest in 2016, escalated up to his most violent sexual assault in college. That victim went to police, empowering other victims to report.

Browne noted that Cook's "overly aggressive, rough and painful sex" included choking, pulling out hair, inflicting bruises and internal injuries. He found Cook has utter lack of power to control sexual impulses and failed to demonstrate that he made sufficient progress in treatment.

"In order to interact safely in the community without supervision, this must be done," Browne wrote.

Further, Browne said that it's unclear if Cook was genuine in therapy or when he apologized to victims at his sentencing because Cook later said he was forced to say he was sorry.

Also around that time, Cook said it was hard to understand the charges against him. As recent as January 2022, notes from the Minneapolis residential sex-offender program he voluntarily attended said he had persistent trouble defining his behavior as criminal.

His attorney, William Lubov, argued that Cook has remained offense-free, celibate and sober since his arrest in 2016, and namely the past three years that he has been out of custody.

Lubov declined to comment Monday morning. The Hennepin County Attorney's Office did not respond to multiple requests for comment.

The lead detective from Cook's criminal case in Madison shared a statement with the Star Tribune reacting to the ruling.

"The news of Alec's commitment marked the closure of a difficult and long case that was heartbreaking on many levels," said detective Tracie Jokala. "It is my sincere hope that the victims and their families can finally find solace knowing no one else will endure what they did."