The Scott County Attorney's Office has dismissed charges against a longtime former Renaissance Festival manager accused of rape because his accuser is unable to travel to Minnesota to testify due to COVID-19 concerns.

The trial of Carr Hagerman, 62, who is charged with two counts of first-degree criminal sexual conduct, was scheduled to begin Monday.

The woman's attorney, John Klassen, said prosecutors told him they will refile the case in 2021 when everyone can appear in court safely.

"My reaction, representing her, is that Mr. Hagerman is not off the hook and this is not any sort of victory for him," Klassen said Thursday night.

Hagerman's client, who was a freelance photographer at the time of the alleged sexual assault in fall 2017, lives out of state. Traveling to Shakopee for the trial would be challenging for her due to the pandemic, Klassen said, and the judge wouldn't allow her to testify remotely.

"There are serious health concerns that involve her family," Klassen said of his client.

Hagerman managed several hundred entertainers each year at the festival and also performed there for nearly 40 years. He was best known as the Rat Catcher, a character who taunts fair visitors while wearing 17th-century apparel.

Hagerman has denied the assault, saying he knew the accuser from work but was never alone with her.

According to the criminal complaint, Hagerman lured the woman to a building on the Renaissance Festival grounds on a festival weekend under the pretense of finding a good location for photos.

He led her upstairs, the charges said, where he slammed her head against a wall and called her a "bitch" and "whore." The accuser said in the complaint that Hagerman took "some sort of pill" before forcing her to perform a sex act.

According to the complaint, he repeatedly beat and raped her while saying things like, "I will do whatever I want with you."

She also accuses him of threatening to kill her and "destroy [her] life" if she reported the assault.

A phone call to Hagerman's attorney, Piper Wold, was not returned Thursday night.

Erin Adler • 612-673-1781

Carr Hagerman (The Minnesota Star Tribune)

about the writer

Erin Adler

Reporter

Erin Adler is a suburban reporter covering Dakota and Scott counties for the Minnesota Star Tribune, working breaking news shifts on Sundays. She previously spent three years covering K-12 education in the south metro and five months covering Carver County.