Prosecutors have charged a Minneapolis man with drugging and raping a 10-year-old girl during a sleepover.
Ezra David Taylor, 39, was arrested early in August and later charged with first-degree criminal sexual conduct with a person under 13 and two counts of second-degree criminal sexual conduct, according to a criminal complaint prepared by the Hennepin County attorney's office. He is being held in lieu of $1 million bail.
According to the complaint, the victim and another guest were invited by Taylor's daughter for a sleepover at their house in the 3500 block of Colfax Avenue S. The victim told her parents that she drank some pop, ate popcorn and watched a movie before she began to feel dizzy and sick, vomiting twice.
Taylor is accused of crushing Ambien tablets and slipping some of the powerful sleep medication into drinks he allegedly gave to guests, including the victim. Taylor later admitted to detectives that after the other guests went to sleep, he carried the victim down to the basement and sexually assaulted her, the complaint said.
The victim was brought to Children's Hospital the following day, where she was interviewed by detectives whom she told that "she was really scared" during the encounter, prosecutors said.
It was unclear whether Taylor has an attorney. If convicted, he faces the possibility of 30 years in prison on the most serious count of first-degree criminal sexual assault.
Libor Jany • 612-673-4064 Twitter:@StribJany
