State trooper accused of groping instructor outside Camp Ripley bar after day of training

A Minnesota state trooper groped his colleague who was providing instruction during training in the central part of the state, according to a criminal complaint.

Jacob Nathaniel Christopherson, 30, of Sturgeon Lake, was charged in Morrison County District Court with fifth-degree criminal sexual conduct, a gross misdemeanor, in connection with the August incident at Camp Ripley near Little Falls, Minn.

Christopherson, who is based out of the patrol’s Duluth district, was charged by summons and is due in court on Dec. 1.

His attorney, Paul Engh, told the Minnesota Star Tribune on Tuesday that “it is quite unfortunate that a charge has been filed. The allegation does not represent Trooper Christopherson’s stellar reputation, let alone his conduct that evening. He’s thankful that he has the right to a jury trial.”

The State Patrol’s chief spokesman, Lt. Mike Lee, declined Tuesday to address the allegations against Christopherson other than to say his agency “takes any allegation of sexual misconduct seriously, whether it involves conduct on or off duty.”

According to the complaint:

The state Bureau of Criminal Apprehension (BCA) was called in to investigate a sex crime occurring one evening after multiday patrol recertification training on Aug. 6.

She sat by a firepit outside and saw Christopherson, whom she had known for about four years, walking toward her while spilling a pitcher of beer in his hand.

Christopherson sat on a bench and put his arm around her, a gesture “she didn’t find odd” at the time, the complaint read.

During their conversation, Christopherson asked her whether she wanted to go back to his room while “winking and using his head to directionally indicate going back to the billets,” the complaint continued. She laughed off the offer as a joke by someone she thought of as a brother.

While Christopherson had his right arm around her, he squeezed one breast over her clothing. Another trooper saw what happened and got Christopherson off the bench. Christopherson also touched the woman’s buttocks.

Christopherson went back to the Viking Club and came out again with another pitcher of beer.

The woman reported the incident to her superiors, and Christopherson was escorted off the camp and put on administrative leave.