Convicted Child Rapist in Oakdale, Wanted for Rape Again, This Time A Baby Sitter, Weak Charges

update: no active warrants as of 9-24-18

Gabriel Miguel Mitchell, DOB 11/24/1978, was convicted of

violently raping a "13-15" year old child back in 2001 out of Ramsey County MN. He was charged with weak third degree child rape charges and

Gabriel Mitchell

convicted. Minnesota sentencing guidelines gave him a weak 18 months in jail. He only had 7 years of weak probation. (this is MN law, not the judge's fault) 

(If you'd like to stay informed on the latest sex offenders charged and convicted in Washington County please subscribe to get our free emails.)

To only the Surprise of do nothing law makers and weak prosecutors he's been accused of rape again. The elected Washington County attorney Pete Orput has charged Gabriel Mitchell with raping another person who just months prior was considered a child, but was an 18 year old baby sitter in his home (watching kids that were not directly related to him). Again he's been charged with weak 3rd degree rape charges despite apparently holding down the victim and raping her while she screamed. Hospital examination after the accused rape confirmed extensive injury to her private areas from the rape according to the criminal complaint. Why these rapists are almost never charged with first or second degree rape is not answered by the County Attorney's office. Not that it matters, 1st degree rape carries little extra punishment In Minnesota with the weak sentencing guidelines. Even still, when offenders are charged they often get shocking plea deals to lesser charges.    

It's no surprise that child predators who rape children will eventually rape another child. It's a fact the soul-less men who rape children are mentally disturbed and there's no cure (it seems). At best, there's management of these dangerous criminals through a max of only ten years of probation. In Minnesota, law makers believe child rapists can be "rehabilitated," do not need to be monitored, and can become good members of society. The evidence is the fact no bill has passed to make sex offender law more tough in the last two years. Also, 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 like this convicted child rapist. More information here:

Watchdog Review of Each of the Fifty States Sex Offender Laws Finds Minnesota Ranked the Most Unsafe  

Reoffending is so rampant it's fair to say it's bound to happen again. Whether they are caught is another. Here are just some stories from only Washington County in the last two years. Read them and then contact law makers to fix this problem please:
Man Who Repeatedly Raped a Child in Oakdale, Raped another Child While on Probation and Will be Out in 2 Years 

Fugitive Child Predator Who Police Report Says Was Caught With Pants Down and About to Rape Child, Found Living at Woodbury Hotel 

No Justice: Man Who Held Woodbury Woman Captive 2 Days and Raped her Released After 15 Months and Now Charged With Stillwater Sexual Assault  

Serial Rapist Caught Living in Woodbury. Broken MN Law Only Requires Him to Register until 2020 

Three Time Convicted Rapist in Woodbury Now Convicted of Trying to Meet Child for Sex. Will be Released Next Year.  

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. All of them refused to comment.

If you hope to see any law change continue to contact law makers, especially Warren Limmer. 

Find your legislator here: https://www.leg.state.mn.us/leg/districtfinder

It's clear that just because a child rapist is convicted, doesn't mean justice has been served. 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, DC, and Maine have public lists. Maine only has 2,700 sex offenders in their state though. Compared to over 20,000 in MN. 

For the growing list of the last know location of convicted sex offenders in Washington County: 

http://wcwatchdog.com/local-sex-offender-articles/

DATE: 9/4/2018 

DEFENDANT: Gabriel Miguel Mitchell 

DOB: 11/24/1978 

CITY/RESIDENCE:

7504 46th Street N

Oakdale, MN 55128

AGENCY: Oakdale Police Department 

CHARGE: I: Criminal Sex Conduct-3rd Degree-Force or Coercion

Criminal history:
2001 was convicted of raping a child (Criminal Sex Conduct-3rd Degree-Victim 13-15). He only did 18 months in Jail. After just 7 years after conviction he was discharged from having monitoring and probation and two days later the Court order for no contact was canceled.  

*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.    

Fleet Farm Fondler Convicted of Groping 13 y/o. In Rare Occurrence, No Plea Deal but Sentence Still Weak

The Fleet Farm Fondler, Jesse Garrett Erdman of St. Paul has been convicted of the original charges of 2nd degree criminal sexual conduct -Victim under 16 for groping the private parts of a 13 year old female in the Oakdale Fleet Farm in

Pic of Jesse Erdman, same DOB & city from public facebook

Washington County in April 2017. We did the a post about his disturbing crime that was caught on surveillance video last year: 

Man Caught on Surveillance Fondling 13 y/o Child in Oakdale Fleet Farm now Charged

We stated in the article that typically these child predators get offered deals to plead guilty on lesser charges so the County can avoid costly and time consuming trial. So was the case of Caleb Wolfgram of Forest Lake who had two prior convictions for spying on children undressing at stores and a tanning salon. While on probation Wolfgram struck a third time and sexually assaulted a 12 year old girl on camera in the Forest Lake Target in 2016. He was charged by Washington County Prosecutor Imran Ali with 2nd degree criminal sexual conduct (CSC); however, the County gave him a ridiculous plea deal down to 4rth degree CSC and is eligible for release in just 24 months if agrees to treatment. When he gets out in November of 2018 it does not appear he will be on probation or the sex offender registry. Not that it matters because the sex offender registry in MN is not public like it is in 47 other states.

For this case of Jesse Erdman, he was not offered a plea deal and was convicted of the original charges. Shocking since it was nearly the same crime as Wolfgram and both were caught on camera. More surprising is the guy with multiple convictions got a plea deal but Erdman got nothing. This rare occurrence goes to show the County is capable of getting convictions to the fullest extent of the law. Hopefully this is a new trend for the County Attorney Pete Orput.

Erdman was Sentenced to 3 years in prison and fifteen years of probation. He will be on the sex offender registry for the maximum of ten years.

The solution is in Minnesota law makers hands to make it so no sex crime against a child goes without mandated prison time and lifetime sex offender registration. Currently most child rapists rarely do more than a year in jail and no more than 10 years on the sex offender registry. See more about the solution here: Rampant Sex Crime on Children, in Just 2yrs, 10 Cases From County Alone, 8 Simple Laws to Update

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

Please contact your legislators. see: www.leg.state.mn.us/leg/districtfinder

For many more examples from Washington County of convicted sex offenders still on our streets see our other posts here:
wcwatchdog.com/local-sex-offender-articles/

DATE: 2/9/2018 

DEFENDANT: Jesse Garrett Erdman

DOB: 4/20/1989 

CITY/RESIDENCE:

1461 Dale St NSt Paul, MN 55117 

MN AGENCY: Oakdale Police Department 

JUDGE: John C. Hoffman 

CONVICTION: Criminal Sexual Conduct 2nd Degree  609.343.1(g)

SENTENCE: 

15 years probation after completing 36 months incarceration as stay of execution; conditional 365 days jail if violates probation; 1st 180 days are straight time; no Sentence to Service; no work release; after 180 days in jail Defendant can petition court to go to sex offender treatment program and court will consider (no promises) furlough to sex offender treatment program; restitution of $886.73 to victim via Court Administration and keep restitution open for potential of continuing therapy for victim; probationary domestic abuse no contact order with victim; no unsupervised contact with any minors without probation/court consent except own children

*In no way do we wish harm to the convicted sex offenders outside the judgement of the law. Posting each criminal's data 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.  

Child Predator Caught in Woodbury gets Felony waived, No Sex Offender Registry, and Only 3 years Probation

In April 2016 Carl Gansen of South St. Paul was arrested at the Burger King in Woodbury attempting to meet who he thought was a 15 year old child according to the criminal complaint. He's one of over 30 men who have been caught by Washington County in child trafficking stings in the last few years. See: Washington County Child Prostitution Sting “Suspects” Names, Photos, and Addresses. Gansen is number 19 on the list.

According to the criminal complaint, Gansen wanted to pick the child up from school and pay her $100 for sex, but agreed to meet her at Burger King. He was notified the age of the child was 15 yet still continued. When he showed up to meet the child he was arrested and notified he was actually communicating with police. He was charged with "Engaging in Electronic Communication Relating or Describing Sexual Conduct with Child" MN 609.352.2a(2)

A year and a half later on October 25th, 2017 Gansen was convicted on this charge of sexual communication with a child and sentenced to just 3 years probation and will have to serve 90 days in in a work release program out of jail if he violates probation it appears. He was convicted on "stay of imposition" and according to MN law they explain it means if he completes the terms of his probation he will have his felony conviction downgraded to misdemeanor. That also means he will not be on the sex offender registry.  Lastly, he has to pay a $1,000 fine. For lack of a better term, he's getting his felony waived it appears.

What's disturbing, besides the weak sentence, is prior to mid 2016 the County would charge these child predators with soliciting a minor; however they stopped doing this after some of our all volunteer team at Washington County Watchdog got law makers to stiffen this law. Now convictions of child solicitation require sex offender registration (but only 10 year max). Unfortunately, the county now charges those caught in these stings with the now weaker charge of sexual communication with a child. When asked in January of 2017 the lead prosecutor Imran Ali stated the men would not plead guilty if their sentence included sex offender registration. We asked why going to trial was a problem when they're caught red handed in a sting with overwhelming evidence. He stated trials tie up the whole department, they're expensive, and you could see them walk with no punishment if they're found not guilty for any reason. 

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

The solution is in Minnesota law makers hands to make it so no sex crime against a child goes without mandated prison time and sex offender registration. Currently most child rapists rarely do more than a year in jail and no more than 10 years on the sex offender registry. See more about the solution here: Rampant Sex Crime on Children, in Just 2yrs, 10 Cases From County Alone, 8 Simple Laws to Update

For many more examples from Washington County of convicted sex offenders still on our streets see our other posts here:
wcwatchdog.com/local-sex-offender-articles/

For the growing list of the last know location of convicted sex offenders in Washington County see: 

Washington County Sex Offenders. Names, Photos, Addresses.

Please Consider Helping Victims of Sexual Assault in Washington County with EmpowerSurvivors out of Stillwater. They are a 501(c3), every cent goes to the victims peer support. They also need office supplies for their location. See our post about them here:

http://wcwatchdog.blogspot.com/p/empowersurvivors.html

DATE: 10/25/2017 

DEFENDANT: Carl William Gansen 

DOB: 1/29/1983 

CITY/RESIDENCE: 

2200 Southview Boulevard

#305South St. Paul, MN 55075 

MN AGENCY: Woodbury Police Department 

JUDGE: Gary R. Schurrer 

CONVICTION: Engage in Electronic Communication Relating or Describing Sexual Conduct with Child 

SENTENCE: Stay of imposition, 3 years of probation. 90 days jail, 4 days credit, Sentence to Serve in/out-of-custody. Pay $1,000 fine within 90 days. Follow all standard terms of probation (only gets Jail if he fails to follow probation)

*In no way do we wish harm to the convicted sex offenders outside the judgement of the law. Posting each criminal's data 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. 

Child Predator by Forest Lake Public School Convicted on Stiffer Charges, Sentence Still Weak

Nicholas Scott Nehring of Forest Lake looks like an average clean cut guy. His last known address is a nice home at 21122 Clydesdale Curve S. Forest Lake, MN 55025, a stone's throw from the Forest Lake Public schools. He doesn't appear to be the image of a sex offender which in many of our minds is a disgusting unkempt middle age man. The scary fact is Nick is a convicted sex offender it appears. Even more disturbing is the fact most of the child predators in Washington County look like average looking people and there's hundreds of them in the County. According to a 2012 Patch.com article there were 280 sex offenders in the County.

See other articles warning you of released sex offenders in our area: http://wcwatchdog.com/local-sex-offender-articles/

We covered Nick Nehring in February 2017 when he was charged with only Sexual Communication with a minor 609.352.2a(3). A charge so weak he wouldn't have served any jail time or had to register as a sex offender. We added him to the list of public data at WCwatchdog.com, a list of dozens of charged and convicted sex offenders in the County. 

When the 2017 legislative session was ending in May and we saw the crime he was charged with and the sentencing guidelines for the crime were not going to change we covered Nehring again as one of the 10 examples in: Rampant Sex Crime on Children, in Just 2yrs, 10 Cases From County Alone, 8 Simple Laws to Update. We stated his charges were weak and the law was even more weak for punishing Sexual Communication with a minor. 

Perhaps something clicked in the minds of the Washington County Prosecutors because when details of Nehring's conviction came out this month we found the charges had changed to Criminal Sex Conduct-3rd Degree-Victim 13-15 Actor >24m older Statute 609.344.1(b). The facts of the case didn't change. The Criminal Complaint describes the parents of a 13 year old child found sexual communication with Nick Nehring on the child's phone. Forest Lake police investigated and found child porn of the victim and evidence of efforts online to find other child victims through dating sites. When police interviewed him under Miranda rights “He admitted that he communicated electronically with a female he knew was thirteen years old.”

So what changed the minds of the Washington County Prosecutors to up the charges? The county did not respond to question; but it's most likely due to concerned citizens speaking up and saying enough is enough. According to Kare11's article on how the sex offender bills were shut down last session, the County Attorneys Association in MN is one of the biggest opponents. The organization opposed stiffer sex offender laws stating the weak laws and charges "are valuable tools." Leading one to easily conclude County Attorneys generally like weak sex offender laws because it is easier to get a plea deal and avoid costly trial. 

One can not completely fault County Prosecutors for making plea deals to avoid a trial that could result in a not-guilty finding. The County board gives them a small budget with the task they are expected to carry out prosecuting several thousand cases from petty theft to murder. The State also doesn't do the County Attorney's office any help by issuing more responsibilities on their office. We explain in more detail of this dilemma in this article: 

Watchdog Review of Each of the Fifty States Sex Offender Laws Finds Minnesota Ranked the Most Unsafe.

Progress is slow to improve MN sex offender laws. It's good to see some good news that Nick Nehring was convicted of his updated charge of 3rd degree Criminal sexual conduct. It appears he will have 15 years of probation with a conditional 180 days in Jail if he violates probation. He will have to register as a sex offender for the current massively weak maximum of 10 years. Please contact our County legislators below to have them fix these laws. Here are our suggestions based on evidence from other states:  bill ideas for legislators

We encourage you to contact your legislators to fix the law; but most important is providing help to the local victims. Many groups are out there doing great work across the State. At WCW our focus is local, sharing Washington County related stories to emphasize the reality that sex crime is too common here. But our work doesn't help the shattered victims. So we highly recommend helping local victims through a local group called EmpowerSurvivors. They are a peer led 501(c3) non-profit group for those affected by sexual abuse. One of the many ways they help is by holding free weekly meetings in Stillwater as a safe place. They also host free and private online support on their website and blog. The founder, Elizabeth Sullivan, is a survivor of child sexual abuse and has devoted her life to helping victims here in the Washington County area. Every cent donated goes to their mission of "survivors helping survivors." Their new location in downtown Stillwater could use office supplies such as a printer, pens, paper and more.  Of course any donation amount helps. You can also use Paypal for a one time gift.

While the public can find hope and security if laws and sentencing guidelines can improve; the victims of sex crime in Washington County are left shattered by the crime even if the offender is punished to the fullest extent of the law. Contact elected officials; but also consider the important step of supporting victims. Please consider donating to EmpowerSurvivors here in Washington County. Find out more at www.EmpowerSurvivors.net 

Legislators to contact in Washington County:

Matt Dean (38B, R)
651-296-3018
Email: rep.matt.dean@house.mn

Bob Dettmer (39A, R)
651-296-4124
Email: rep.bob.dettmer@house.mn

Kelly Fenton (53B, R)
651-296-1147
Email: rep.kelly.fenton@house.mn

Keith Franke (54A, R)
651-296-4342
Email: rep.keith.franke@house.mn

Tony Jurgens (54B, R)
651-296-3135
Email: rep.tony.jurgens@house.mn

Kathy Lohmer (39B, R)
651-296-4244
Email: rep.kathy.lohmer@house.mn

Linda Runbeck (38A, R)
651-296-2907
Email: rep.linda.runbeck@house.mn

JoAnn Ward (53A, DFL)
651-296-7807
Email: rep.joann.ward@house.mn

Roger C. Chamberlain (38, R) 
651-296-1253 
E-mail: sen.roger.chamberlain@senate.mn

Karin Housley (39, R) 

651-296-4351 E-mail: sen.karin.housley@senate.mn

Susan Kent (53, DFL)  
651-296-4166 
E-mail: sen.susan.kent@senate.mn

Dan Schoen (54, DFL) 651-297-8060 E-mail: sen.dan.schoen@senate.mn Charles W. Wiger (43, DFL) 651-296-6820 E-mail: sen.chuck.wiger@senate.mn

*In no way do we wish harm to the convicted sex offenders outside the judgement of the law. Posting each criminal's data 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.