Level 3 offender moving to Cloquet

The Cloquet Police Department issued public notification that Steven James Hayes, age 33, a Level 3 (highest risk) predatory offender, was moving to Cloquet on Wednesday, April 10. He is residing in the vicinity of Allen Street and Big Lake Road.

According to the fact sheet on Hayes, he held several known and unknown adult male and female victims against their will, and physically assaulted a known adult female victim.

The Minnesota Community Notification Act requires persons who have engaged in kidnapping or false imprisonment register (as well as those committing criminal sexual behavior) be assigned a risk level before release from confinement.

According to a 2012 Duluth News Tribune story, Hayes was sentenced to 32 ½ years in prison in January 2012 for 14 different crimes relating to the assault of his wife - whom he allegedly choked and pistol-whipped, then put the gun barrel into her mouth before threatening to kill her and two witnesses.

However, Hayes was released sooner after successfully appealing two of the most serious convictions following a 2016 Minnesota Supreme Court decision that a BB gun is not a firearm. When Hayes was tried in 2012, the district court had instructed the jury that a BB gun is a firearm and a dangerous weapon.

Hayes is about 5 feet 10 inches tall and 178 pounds, and has brown eyes, black hair and medium brown skin. He has a tattoo with writing on his neck.