Multiple sexual assault charges for Scanlon man

A Scanlon man accused of holding a woman against her will and raping her repeatedly in July already had a criminal sexual assault case working its way through the court system.

Dennis Michael St. John Jr., 53, was charged with domestic assault and third-degree criminal sexual conduct-force or coercion in August 2018, a case that is set for a jury trial in October. Additionally, in the most recent case, St. John is charged with three counts of felony first-degree criminal sexual conduct and additional felony counts for kidnapping, threats of violence and second-degree assault with a dangerous weapon.

According to the complaint filed in the July 2020 case, the alleged victim ran into St. John at the Black Bear Casino Resort and left about 11 p.m. to go to his home. She told police she had been in a previous relationship with him. Once inside, the woman told police, he said “paybacks are a bitch” and proceeded to strike the woman and cut off her tank top and undergarments. The woman told police that St. John had a knife and large flashlight and threatened to kill her. She said he sexually assaulted her six or seven times into the early morning hours Saturday and then throughout the day and into Sunday morning. The woman escaped, she said, when St. John went to walk his dog Sunday, driving off in her vehicle. The woman said St. John told her he would find her and kill her and family members if she escaped.

In Monday’s hearing — held via Zoom — attorneys for the prosecution and defense agreed to have both criminal cases track together for now. Judge Robert Macaulay scheduled a pretrial hearing on the 2018 case for Sept. 25 and an omnibus hearing for the most recent case. He instructed the attorneys that any plea deals involving the 2018 case should be made by that date and withdrawn if the offer isn’t accepted.

According to a search of his Minnesota criminal record, St. John was convicted previously of felony first-degree burglary in 1990, in a case where a first-degree assault charge was dismissed.