Prison for former Minnesota high school assistant football coach for raping woman in her apartment

A former northern Minnesota high school assistant football coach has received a 12-year sentence for raping a woman in her apartment.

Ethan R. Hardy, 27, of Deer River was sentenced this week in Itasca County District Court after having been convicted by a jury of first-, third- and fifth-degree criminal sexual conduct in connection with the assault of an acquaintance in September 2022 while Hardy was still a coach for Deer River High School.

With credit for time in jail after his arrest, Hardy is expected to serve the first 7⅔ years of his term in prison and the balance on supervised release.

Deer River head football coach Brent Schimek said Hardy left the team during the 2022 season, after police began investigating the allegations.

According to the criminal complaint:

The woman told police she was on a couch with Hardy at her apartment after a day of drinking alcohol. She said Hardy put something in her mouth that might have been a pill or candy, but she soon began to feel “loopy” and blacked out, the charges read.

Hardy then took her into her bedroom and raped her as she objected. She was in and out of consciousness, the charges said.

Under police questioning, Hardy denied being in the woman’s apartment that night. He said he was at football practice early that evening, then went home, where “he was alone with his kids, and there were no other adults present,” the complaint read.