Benson man to serve 10 years' probation in sex assault of minor, prison sentences stayed
Oct. 16—BENSON — A Benson man was sentenced Friday in Swift County District Court to probation and a stayed prison sentence for sexually assaulting juveniles on multiple occasions.
Noe Cervantes, 21, pleaded guilty in July to two counts of felony second-degree criminal sex conduct with a victim under 16. As part of a plea agreement, seven other felony criminal sex conduct charges have been dismissed.
District Judge David Mennis stayed a 48-month sentence for Cervantes for 10 years provided he comply with supervised probation. Mennis also stayed a 36-month sentence for the other charge, with the sentences running concurrently.
He was also given a 275-day jail sentence but was given credit for 275 days served. Cervantes has been in custody in the Swift County Jail since his January arrest in Faribault while trying to flee to Texas.
Cervantes was also ordered to undergo a psychosexual evaluation, complete an outpatient adult sex offender treatment program, give a DNA sample, have no unsupervised contact with any juvenile females and ordered not to possess or access pornographic material in any form.
He must also disclose all internet-capable and digital storage devices to his probation officer and register as a predatory offender. Cervantes was also banned from using applications with disappearing content, such as Snapchat.
Cervantes was originally charged with forcing sexual acts on a child of age 12-13, including forcible penetration causing pain.
The charges to which he pleaded guilty involve sexual assault but not penetration.
Court records describe several incidents in which Cervantes abused the child. The Benson Police Department began investigating when a woman reported that Cervantes had been having sex with her teenage daughter and had been molesting her younger children.
The incidents allegedly took place between November 2019 and August 2020.
According to the criminal complaint, the girl said Cervantes made her touch his genitals when they were in a vehicle while in another state. Another time, when she was at a sleepover, he grabbed her hand and took her to another part of the house. He put her on the floor, took off her clothes and covered her mouth before he raped her while she tried to move away.
The other child in the bed that night confirmed that Cervantes had led the girl away and that she was crying when she returned. They decided to stay up the rest of the night and not leave one another.
The two children said they were able to avoid contact with Cervantes another time by running away from him and holding smaller children in their laps so he couldn't touch them.
He once tried to bribe the girl with her favorite snack, but she refused.
