A Level 3 sex offender has been charged with first-degree criminal sexual conduct after allegedly attacking a female acquaintance he invited to his St. Paul apartment.
Repeat sex offender is charged in St. Paul assault
The 41-year-old victim fled after a tenant across the hall looked out her apartment door and told the alleged assailant, Bruce E. Patterson, 49, to "shut up," the charges say.
According to the complaint filed on Thursday in Ramsey County District Court, the victim told police that she spoke with Patterson at a Salvation Army in Minneapolis on Tuesday and that he invited her to his East Side apartment for a drink and some dinner after she told him she'd had a bad day.
She said that he made her a drink with vodka and cranberry juice and then started the assault by holding a knife against her chest while they were cooking. She said he also pounded her head on the floor and stomped her chest during the attack.
Three residents in the building in the 1800 block of E. 7th Street told police that they had heard the woman's screams.
Patterson, who denied the assault, is being held in the county jail in lieu of $120,000 bail.
In 1997, he was convicted of second-degree criminal sexual conduct after touching two children in a "sexual manner" at a public park in Hennepin County, according to the complaint. The victims were strangers. In 2004, he pleaded guilty to first-degree burglary in a case that also included a first-degree criminal sexual conduct charge.
He was required to register as a Level 3 sex offender based on those convictions, the charges say.
Level 3 offenders are classified as the most dangerous and are considered the most likely to offend again.
ANTHONY LONETREE
about the writer
LOCAL FICTION: Featuring stories within stories, she’ll discuss the book at Talking Volumes on Tuesday.