Rochester man given 180 days in jail for raping girls
Jan. 30—ROCHESTER — A 20-year-old Rochester man will serve 180 days in jail and up to 30 years of probation in a case involving the rape of two juveniles girls in Olmsted County.
Mohamed Bakari Shei appeared before District Judge Jacob Allen Monday, Jan. 30, 2023, for his sentencing hearing where multiple family members spoke about how Shei's actions affected them.
Shei was facing three different felony first-degree criminal conduct charges in two separate cases. His plea deal called for no prison time, a stay of adjudication and the dismissal of two out of three charges. If Shei completes his probation, all charges against him will be dismissed and will not be on his criminal record.
One of the juveniles in this case was
around 9 years old
and the other juvenile was between 4 and 5 years old at the time of the sexual assaults.
"There is no moving on or getting over it, I've tried," one of Shei's survivors said while fighting back tears in court Monday. She broke down and cried following her statement to the court.
A family member described one of the juvenile survivors as a bubbly girl who loved to share with others, but following Shei's multiple sexual assaults, the juvenile became withdrawn and more reclusive.
The family member asked Shei to take responsibility for what he's done to his victims and to their families.
"Some day you will have to answer for this egregious act against a child," the family member said.
Shei was 15 and 16 years old at the time of the sexual assaults and he was initially charged in juvenile court in 2019. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, his case was pushed back to the point that prosecutors would soon lose jurisdictional authority to prosecute the case.
Charges were dismissed against Shei in those cases but were soon refiled. Shei was then given a plea deal that included his stay of adjudication and no prison time in exchange for him not challenging certification in adult court, which allowed for his continued prosecution, according to Olmsted County Senior Attorney Thomas Gort.
Shei entered an Alford plea in December 2022, meaning that while he does not admit guilt, he admits that a jury would convict him based on the evidence.
Shei's lawyer, James McGeeney, argued that the court lacked the authority to impose any jail time, as that was not "the spirit" of the plea agreement and any jail sentence would be in violation of the agreement.
Allen ultimately disagreed with McGeeney's argument, pointing out that judges ordering stays of adjudication in drug cases routinely impose a 30-day jail sentence.
"I hope you heard what was said in this court today," Allen told Shei in court. "The conduct they described and the way it affected them should be something that haunts you."
With good behavior, Shei will serve, at most, 116 days in the Olmsted County Adult Detention Center. His jail sentence will begin Feb. 13, 2023. Shei was also ordered to undergo a sex offender program and complete 200 hours of community service.
He will not be required to register as a sex offender.
According to court documents:
A female juvenile reported to a Rochester police investigator in April 2020 that Shei first raped her on Mother's Day in 2018 at a Rochester residence. The juvenile would have been around 9 years old on that date. Shei would have been around 16 years old.
Shei told her that he would give her money for a book fair at school or buy her toys, the juvenile told police.
A different juvenile told an RPD investigator in June 2021 that Shei had raped her several times at the same residence during the same time period.
Shei denied to investigator that he had raped the juvenile.
