Osceola man charged in sex crime against 14-year-old girl

By KEVIN GILES, Star Tribune

Last update: September 28, 2009 - 8:52 PM

A quarrel over alleged damage to a car has led to felony charges against an Osceola, Wis., man accused of criminal sexual conduct with a 14-year-old girl.

Charges filed in Washington County District Court allege that Jeremy William Eckstrand, 21, sustained a sexual relationship with the girl, a Lakeland resident, lasting more than seven months. Eckstrand was 20 when the relationship began, the complaint said.

Deputies began investigating Eckstrand and the girl after responding Sept. 15 to a report of a fight in progress in Lakeland, on the county's east side near the St. Croix River. The girl's brother said that Eckstrand and his friends accused him of damaging Eckstrand's car and wanted to fight him. The brother denied damaging the car but told deputies that he didn't approve of his sister's relationship with Eckstrand.

When a sheriff's deputy questioned Eckstrand, the complaint said, Eckstrand said that he was 18 and that the girl's parents were to blame for allowing the relationship.

The girl told a deputy she had been dating Eckstrand "and stated their relationship was intimate," the complaint said. She said they began having sex in February, after her 14th birthday, and met for sex about once a week since. Mostly this happened at her house, she said, but sometimes at Eckstrand's Osceola residence.

He's charged with one count of third-degree criminal sexual conduct with a victim 13 to 15 years old, which carries a potential prison penalty of 15 years. A second, similar fourth-degree count carries a potential penalty of 10 years.

Eckstrand was released from the Washington County jail on $10,000 bail. He'll make his initial appearance Wednesday before Judge Elizabeth Martin. Court records show Eckstrand was convicted in July of misdemeanor disorderly conduct in Washington County.

Kevin Giles • 612-673-4432

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