Ham Lake man pleads guilty to 5 counts of criminal sexual conduct, will be sentenced to over 45 years in prison
Jory Wiebrand[Hennepin County Jail]
A 35-year-old Ham Lake man, who sexually assaulted multiple women between 2015 to 2019 in Minneapolis, pleaded guilty to five counts of criminal sexual conduct on Thursday.
Hennepin County Attorney Mike Freeman said Jory Wiebrand pleaded guilty to four counts of first-degree criminal sexual conduct and one count of second-degree criminal sexual conduct. The negotiated sentence for these offenses total over 45 years (550 months) in prison.
The five counts of criminal sexual conduct pleaded guilty upon includes the following:
- A first-degree criminal sexual conduct charge stemming from an incident on March 23, 2015, where Wiebrand sexually assaulted a victim as she was cleaning snow off her car in Minneapolis.
- A first-degree criminal sexual conduct charge stemming from an incident on Feb. 25, 2018. Wiebrand sexually assaulted the victim in her yard in Minneapolis after she came home from shopping at a convenience store.
- A first-degree criminal sexual conduct charge stemming from an incident on Aug. 4, 2018. Wiebrand attacked the victim as she entered her home in Minneapolis and proceeded to sexually assault and rob her.
- A second-degree criminal sexual conduct charge stemming from an incident on Feb. 9, 2019, where Wiebrand attacked and sexually assaulted the victim as she was on her way to a bus stop in Minneapolis.
- A first-degree criminal sexual conduct charge stemming from an incident on Aug. 7, 2019, where Wiebrand attacked and sexually assaulted the victim after she got out of the shower at her home in Minneapolis.
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Hennepin County District Court Judge Kerry Meyer accepted the guilty plea on the first-degree criminal sexual conduct case that happened in 2015, for which Wiebrand will receive over 14 years (172 months) in prison. As is common practice, Judge Meyer is expected to pronounce the Ham Lake man guilty of all offenses at his sentencing hearing scheduled for March 11, according to the attorney’s office.
Additionally, prosecutors are seeking 12 years (144 months) each for the 2018 incidents and 7.5 years (90 months) for the Feb. 8, 2019 incident. These sentences will be served consecutively, according to the attorney’s office. The final incident, which will amount to 30 years (360 months) in prison, will run concurrent to the other cases.
"I commend the hard work our prosecutors put forth on these cases," Freeman said. "I also want to acknowledge the exceptional police work that made it possible to identify, arrest, charge and ultimately convict Mr. Wiebrand. Had it not been for their diligent work, he may still be on the loose, tormenting innocent women. I hope at the time of sentencing, the victims and their families are able to find some closure and can begin the healing process after experiencing such trauma."
Additional terms of the plea agreement include Wiebrand having to register as a predatory sexual offender, be on conditional release for the remainder of his life and pay any possible restitution to all of the victims.