In 2021 a woman contacted Cottage Grove MN police and filed a report stating she was raped by a Martin Michael Zappa (Marty) DOB 5/14/1959. The victim accused him of several occasions of rape when she was as young as 6 years old in 1999. The police report said the abuses happened while visiting his home on several different visits. It stated he was a father figure and groomed her to sexual acts. The police did an investigation and after an apparent lengthy court battle was convicted in August
2025 of Criminal Sexual Conduct-1st Degree-Penetration or Contact with Person Under 13. He was sentenced to 8 years in prison with possibility of parole after 5 years. This wasn't the first conviction, in 2010 he was convicted of Criminal Sexual conduct 4rth degree, victim mentally impaired/ helpless from an incident in 1999.
This is one of just a few times in all the years of us covering child rape convictions in Washington County where the prosecutors didn't back down and give a plea deal with lesser charges. It's too bad it took a second complaint to throw the book at him.
This second child rape conviction seems to prove the fact child predators have one of the highest recidivism rates of any other crime. Appearing to show that once a child predator, always a child predator as many say.
This story is exactly why the child rape laws need to be stronger with better sentencing guidelines for one.
In Minnesota, left wing law makers and prosecutors believe child rapists can be "rehabilitated," do not need to be monitored, and can become good members of society. The evidence is the fact only several hundred of the over 20,000 convicted rapists in Minnesota are confined in prison. Most only do a couple years and then are released without further monitoring. More information here:
Tell legislators to also make the sex offender list public like nearly every other State in the Country does. All but MN, DC, and Maine have public lists. Maine only has 2,700 sex offenders in their state though. Compared to over 20,000 in MN.
