A California teenager and two children have been found safe hours after the Nicollet County Sheriff's Office issued an alert that they might be with a woman facing several criminal sexual conduct charges.
Teen, 2 children found with alleged Minnesota sex offender
They were found with a 28-year-old woman in Wyoming, the BCA said.
November 20, 2021 at 5:03AM
The Nicollet County Sheriff's Office canceled the alert late Friday for Brian Rigoberto Ballardo, 15, Matthew Israel Herrera, 2, and 1-month-old Benjamin Ariel Ballardo, the Minnesota BCA said. The three were found in the state of Wyoming with 28-year-old Julianna Korinn Gutierrez, who is on supervised release for first-degree criminal sexual conduct and is prohibited from having contact with the teen.
She faces 10 counts ranging from criminal sexual conduct and depriving a parent of custodial rights, according to charging documents filed on Monday in Nicollet County District Court.
Gutierrez has no legal custody of the baby or the 2-year-old, the Sheriff's Office said.
According to the charges:
The teen's mother reported him missing nearly a year ago in California and believed he was with Gutierrez. Deputies received a tip Nov. 9 that Gutierrez gave birth to a child and that the teen may be the father.
An investigation showed the teen was stopped twice in his vehicle by law enforcement in Nicollet County and the city of Lafayette in southern Minnesota and allegedly gave officers a false name; the second time two small children were in car seats in the vehicle.
The address provided for the traffic stops matched an application for benefits submitted by Gutierrez.
Deputies executed a search warrant on the Lafayette house. In a statement to officers, the teen said the two had been together for more than 10 months. He is believed to be the father of the newborn.
Gutierrez said she knew the teen for several years and they recently became partners. She said she traveled with him to Minnesota four to five months ago.
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