Buffalo, Minnesota, man sentenced in Kandiyohi County to 77 months for criminal sexual conduct

Dale Morin, West Central Tribune, Willmar, Minn.
·3 min read

Feb. 1—WILLMAR

— A Buffalo, Minnesota, man was sentenced to more than six years in prison after a subsequent criminal sexual conduct violation within the past seven years.

Christopher Mathias Klein, 36, was sentenced Dec. 28 in Kandiyohi County District Court after pleading guilty to an amended charge of fifth-degree criminal sexual conduct, deemed a subsequent offense.

Per the plea petition, prosecutors agreed to amend the charge from a second-degree offense to a fifth-degree offense after agreeing with Klein's attorney that Klein would serve a mid-range sentence.

In this case, Klein was sentenced to 77 months in prison with credit for 174 days. He had been incarcerated at the Kandiyohi County Jail on $250,000 conditional bond, $500,000 without conditions, since the beginning of August 2023.

Due to a previous conviction of criminal sexual conduct, Klein could have been sentenced up to seven years of prison, according to Minnesota Statute.

Klein was previously convicted in Wright County of fourth-degree criminal sexual conduct, involving a victim between the ages of 13 and 15. He served 41 months in prison in that case filed in 2016.

Under Minnesota law, convicted offenders must serve at least two-thirds of their sentences in custody before being allowed to serve the remaining time on supervised release.

According to the Minnesota Department of Corrections, Klein's expected release date from the Minnesota Correctional Facility in St. Cloud is Oct. 18, 2027.

Conditions of Klein's sentence include supplying a DNA sample, paying any certified restitution and registering as a predatory offender in the state of Minnesota.

According to the criminal complaint:

An adult woman reported in August 2021 that a man she identified as Klein had inappropriately touched her 13-year-old daughter.

In a follow-up interview with a detective from the Kandiyohi County Sheriff's Office, the child said that Klein had inappropriately touched her on several occasions. She alleged Klein would touch her over her clothing on her butt, breasts, stomach and inner thighs.

According to the complaint, Klein had moved in with the girl's mother in a residence in Kandiyohi County around December 2019 and had moved out in November of 2020. The girl said she believed the incidents had occurred between January 2020 and June 2020.

She recalled a specific instance of being under Klein's supervision while her mother was at work. She said that Klein drank regularly, and that he had been drinking on this day too.

She told the detective that Klein sat next to her put his arm around and over her shoulder and squeezed her breast. He then squeezed her inner thigh, according to the complaint.

The girl said she got up and told Klein that he was making her feel uncomfortable. According to the complaint, Klein told the girl something to the effect of that she should not feel uncomfortable.

The 13-year-old recalled another instance when Klein inappropriately touched her while her brother and mother were all in one room watching a movie. She said that Klein was sitting next to her on the couch and that her mother was on the other end of the couch sleeping.

At some point, Klein reached under a blanket and put his hand on her inner thigh over her clothing. She said as soon as it happened she pulled his hand away and yelled "stop," directly to him.

Klein allegedly told her to be quiet, so she would not wake up her mother.