ST. CLOUD – A Stearns County judge on Wednesday sentenced a 22-year-old St. Cloud man to four years in prison for raping a girl at knifepoint inside a St. Cloud high school in 2019.
St. Cloud man sentenced to 4 years for raping girl in high school bathroom
A Stearns County judge also ordered Robert S. Epps Jr. to register as a predatory offender.
The Minnesota Star Tribune
June 1, 2024 at 2:04AM
Robert S. Epps Jr. was charged in 2021 with one felony count of third-degree criminal sexual conduct for the assault. He initially pleaded not guilty but amended his plea in March as part of a deal that ensures Epps sees prison time in exchange for dismissing other assault-related cases going through the judicial process.
According to court documents, a former classmate of Epps told police Epps, then 18, followed her into a bathroom during a basketball game at Apollo High School in December 2019.
The girl, then 15, said Epps pushed her against the wall of a bathroom stall, placed his hand on her throat and held a pocketknife to her stomach, threatening to cut her if she didn’t have sex with him. He then threw her to the floor and raped her, documents state.
The agreement, approved by Judge Michael Jesse, stipulates Epps must register as a predatory offender for his lifetime, undergo 10 years of conditional release and pay restitution.
The agreement also wrapped up other cases against Epps, including a separate felony count for criminal sexual conduct with an underage victim in Stearns County and a felony count for criminal sexual conduct in Benton County. He is scheduled to be sentenced in Benton County on June 27.
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