A 46-year-old man was sentenced Tuesday to 12 years in prison after being convicted of multiple counts of criminal sexual conduct involving a minor, according to the St. Louis County Attorney's Office.
Chief Judge Leslie E. Beiers sentenced Shawn Francis Mortensen to 144 months in prison in St. Louis County District Court after denying defense requests for both a downward durational and dispositional departure from Minnesota's sentencing guidelines. Mortensen had argued he was particularly amenable to probation rather than prison, but the court imposed the presumptive guideline sentence.
Following a four-day bench trial in May, Mortensen was found guilty of two counts of first-degree criminal sexual conduct involving sexual contact with a child younger than 13, one count of first-degree criminal sexual conduct involving a victim younger than 16 with whom he had a significant relationship involving multiple acts over an extended period, and one count of fifth-degree criminal sexual conduct involving sexual contact with a person younger than 16.
Prosecutors said the offenses were committed against a minor girl between February 2012 and October 2015. Under Minnesota law, Mortensen was sentenced only on the first-degree criminal sexual conduct conviction involving multiple acts because it encompassed the broader pattern of abuse.
The case was originally filed in 2015 before being dismissed and later refiled in 2018. The reasons for the dismissal and refiling were not immediately available.
"The passage of time does not lessen the seriousness of these crimes or our commitment to holding offenders accountable," St. Louis County Attorney Kim Maki said in a statement following the sentencing. She credited the victim's perseverance throughout the lengthy legal process and said officials hope the sentence provides a measure of justice and closure.
The investigation was conducted by the St. Louis County Sheriff's Office, the St. Louis County Public Health and Human Services Department and First Witness Child Advocacy Center.
Assistant St. Louis County Attorneys Angela Wilson and Kirstyn Oye prosecuted the case.
