Lake City man accused of sexually assaulting two juveniles over several years

Mark Wasson, Post-Bulletin, Rochester, Minn.
·2 min read
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Sep. 28—WABASHA — A Lake City man is facing multiple felony charges related to sexually assaulting two juveniles over several years, according to court documents.

Matthew Raymond Rahn, 42, appeared in Wabasha District Court on Wednesday, Sept. 28, 2022, charged with six counts of first-degree criminal sexual conduct and two counts of second-degree criminal sexual conduct.

District Judge Kevin Siefken ordered Rahn to be held on $200,000 bail or bond with no conditions, or $50,000 bail or bond with conditions. Siefken also ordered Rahn not to leave Minnesota without written court approval, issued a domestic no contact order between Rahn and the juveniles and for Rahn to comply with GPS monitoring.

Rahn allegedly sexually abused one juvenile several times over the course of a year when the juvenile was 12 years old.

He is also accused of sexually abusing another juvenile when the juvenile was in first grade during the 2014-2015 school year. He reportedly stopped assaulting the second juvenile by the time they entered fifth or sixth grade.

Similar accusations against Rahn had been made by another juvenile in 2016 but he was not charged at the time.

"We didn't have enough to go forward then," Wabasha County Attorney Karrie Kelly told the Post Bulletin.

Kelly said that Rahn's recent charges stem from an investigation by the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension for possessing and disseminating child sexual abuse material, commonly called child pornography.

During the investigation, law enforcement discovered that Rahn was also sexually abusing children.

Investigators found conversations from 2019 between Rahn and another person via the instant messaging platform WhatsApp where Rahn talked about sexually assaulting the two juveniles and included at least one video of child sexual abuse material in one of the conversations. Rahn also referred to at least one of the juveniles by name in the conversations.

According to Kelly, this new information allowed the County Attorney's Office to move forward with the charges.

As of Wednesday afternoon, Rahn is still listed as in custody in the Wabasha County Jail.

No date has been scheduled for Rahn to appear next in District Court.