Wayzata man charged in rape of woman, 20, at U

By PAUL WALSH and ABBY SIMONS, Star Tribune staff writers

Last update: May 28, 2008 - 11:55 PM

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A 20-year-old woman who jumped from her second-story apartment window near the University of Minnesota to flee from a man who repeatedly sexually assaulted her first tried to fend him off with a curling iron, according to charges filed this week.

Christopher E. Karls of Wayzata was charged Tuesday with first-degree criminal sexual conduct, kidnapping and burglary in the May 4 attack, the second of two suspected stranger rapes in the area.

Authorities say blood found in the home helped them tie the assault to Karls. A DNA profile developed from the blood led to a match to Karls' profile in the state's convicted offender database.

The woman broke her ankle after jumping from the bathroom window to flee Karls after he broke into her apartment in the Como/University of Minnesota neighborhood, held a knife to her throat and sexually assaulted her. Authorities believe he bent the aluminum frame of a storm window shortly after the woman arrived home the morning of May 4.

The victim, who shared her apartment with three other women, reported being in her bedroom when she heard footsteps and opened the door to see Karls, whom she did not recognize. When she slammed the door and locked it, Karls kicked in the door. The woman then beat him with a curling iron, but dropped it after she saw he had a knife.

After Karls told her he was "desperate" and asked for money, the woman offered him her camera and computer before he ordered her to undress and sexually assaulted her. Afterward he ordered her to shower. She tried to call 911, but he took the phone away. Then, wearing only a towel, she jumped to the deck below and ran to a neighboring house.

It was the second sexual assault in as many weeks in the area, but police do not believe they are related. Neither woman knew her attacker.

On April 27, an 18-year-old freshman said she was grabbed by two men and sexually assaulted in a men's restroom in Pioneer Hall, a U residence hall. No one has been arrested.

Karls was convicted in 2002 for burglarizing an occupied dwelling in Stearns County. He remains in the Hennepin County jail.

pwalsh@startribune.com • 612-673-4482 asimons@startribune.com 612-673-4921

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