A 19-year-old with a sex offense and other violent crimes on his record from California got high with a 14-year-old acquaintance and raped her at his grandparents' home southwest of the Twin Cities, according to charges filed this week.
Bryton P. Kraft was charged in Le Sueur County District Court with two counts of third-degree criminal sexual conduct. He had moved to Montgomery, Minn., with his grandparents at least 2½ years ago from western Wisconsin — where law enforcement authorities had sought to keep him out of their community after he was categorized in 2012 as "most likely to offend."
Kraft, who was arrested Sept. 8 but released as the investigation continued, was charged by summons.
Patricia Kraft said Wednesday that her grandson "knows nothing" about the charges. "He's standing right here. They're filing false charges once again. I'm so sick of it."
In Minnesota, Kraft was not determined to be a Level 3 sex offender, the state's most serious designation. Therefore, Le Sueur County Sheriff David Tietz explained Tuesday, law enforcement agencies were aware of Kraft's criminal history but no public notification was made.
"He was registered with the Sheriff's Office," Tietz said, but there was no community notification. Juvenile offenders are not assigned a risk status of any kind in Minnesota.
At 16, Kraft and his grandparents had moved to New Richmond, Wis., in September 2012, several months after he was convicted in California of attempted rape of an employee at a group home for sex offenders in San Diego.
An evaluation by St. Croix County law enforcement authorities had called for Kraft to be prevented from coming to New Richmond, but federal law prevented such a ban because he was moving with his legal guardians, according to New Richmond Police Chief Mark Samelstad.
