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| John Kipka |
Over two years ago in April of 2016. According to the criminal complaint, John Gary Kipka, age 37, responded to an online post titled "Life can be frustrating for a high school girl." After some chatting back and forth he asked her age. She said 15. His response was "Damn could be fun, but bad for both of us."
Kipka continued by asking sexual questions and explained in detail the sexual things he'd like to do to her. Eventually he asked to meet her for sex stating it would have to be kept a secret according to the criminal complaint.
John Kipka arranged to meet the child at a Super America gas station in Woodbury. When he arrived he was arrested and informed he had been speaking to the Woodbury police, not a child according to the criminal complaint.
The Washington County Prosecutor's office run by Pete Orput charged him with Sexual Communication with a child. Kipka was convicted two years later and this child predator will only have to serve two years of probation. He will not have to register as a sex offender it appears. According to case records the conviction will be deemed a Gross Misdemeanor. The child predator's lawyer was Ed Simonet out of Stillwater.
The County attorney Pete Orput and the prosecutor Imran Ali did not respond to question on why they didn't charge him with soliciting a minor for sex. This felony charge, if convicted, would have at least required sex offender registration for a short time. The max length to be registered is 10 years in MN. This is concerning because, for the two years before conviction he was not prevented from living at his apartment, a block from Woodbury Elementary and Middle school and
even after his conviction he is allowed to continue to live there it appears. because his charged crime and conviction are so weak.
The judge's hands are tied in situations like this. They can't charge for crimes and they are held to very weak sentencing guidelines once they are convicted.
The sex offender list is NOT public. There are nearly 20,000 registered sex offenders in MN and only about 700 are level 3 offenders that you occasionally hear about moving into the "general area" of a city.
Last year and this year not one sex offender bill passed. Half the bills to make stronger sex offender laws were held back in the house. Senator Warren Limmer called them "non starters" and refused to discuss them in conference committee. The rest were killed in the Senate by the lead of Senator Limmer and Julie Rosen in conference committee. Both refused to comment so far.
If you hope to see any law change continue to contact law makers, especially Warren Limmer.
Find your legislator here: https://www.
The problem is further explained in our related article: Watchdog Review of Each of the Fifty States Sex Offender Laws Finds Minnesota Ranked the Most Unsafe
It's clear that just because a child predator is convicted of trying to meet a child does not mean the public will be safer for it. Therefore, if the punishment for ALL criminal sexual conduct crimes is raised than weak charges and convictions will be stronger.
Tell legislators to also make the sex offender list public like nearly every other State in the County does. All but MN and Maine have public lists. Maine only has 2,700 sex offenders in their state though. Compared to nearly 20,000 in MN.
Tell legislators to also make the sex offender list public like nearly every other State in the County does. All but MN and Maine have public lists. Maine only has 2,700 sex offenders in their state though. Compared to nearly 20,000 in MN.
For the growing list of the last know location of convicted sex offenders in Washington County:
DATE: 4/9/2018
DEFENDANT: John Gary Kipka
DOB: 10/17/1978
CITY/RESIDENCE:
Lives a block from Woodbury Middle School
MN AGENCY: Woodbury Police Department
JUDGE: John C. Hoffman
CONVICTION: Engage in Electronic Communication Relating or Describing Sexual Conduct with Child
CASE: 82-CR-16-2000
SENTENCE: Sentenced as gross misdemeanor; 2 years of probation; 2 days jail credited, 30 days to be served in HUBER program, 30 days to be served under Sentenced to Serve, 303 days stayed, that means if he breaks probation he could serve the 303 days. It's incentive to not break probation.
criminal history according to BCA:
2003: DWI
*In no way do we wish harm to the convicted sex offenders outside the judgement of the law. Posting each criminal's public data anyone can get allows the public to decide from the evidence if they appreciate knowing such data. Such as what these sex offender's last known address is. No representation is made that the individuals listed here are currently on the state's offenders registry. All names presented here were gathered at a past date. Some persons listed might no longer be registered offenders and others might have been added. Some addresses or other data might no longer be current. Owners of Washington County Watchdog assume no responsibility (and expressly disclaim responsibility) for updating this site to keep information current or to ensure the accuracy or completeness of any posted information. All data was only accurate at the time of posting per Government sources provided. Accordingly, you should confirm the accuracy and completeness of all posted information before making any decision related to any data presented on this site. The information on this web site is made available solely to protect the public. Anyone who uses this information to commit a crime or to harass an offender or his or her family is subject to criminal prosecution and civil liability. Message us if you can verify us of an address or change in data. Washington County Watchdog is not responsible for the accuracy of the content shared, refer to our linked government sources.
