Star Tribune
Former Bagley school resource officer pleads guilty in sex abuse cases
Neil Henry Dolan, a Clearwater County sheriff’s deputy and Bagley High School resource officer for nearly a decade, would take seventh-grade boys fishing on Minerva Lake. He’d ride four-wheelers with boys from the football team that he coached. He worked summers at Many Point Scout Camp in neighboring Becker County, taking a teenage boy on an hours-long drive.
From those positions of power, court documents say, Dolan then engaged in sex crimes, often calling teenage boys to his office, locking his door, lowering the blinds and abusing them.
This week, Dolan, 35 of Bagley, pleaded guilty to two counts of first-degree criminal sexual conduct and one count of second-degree criminal sexual conduct, crimes that occurred between 2016 and 2019 when the students were 13 or 14. Dolan could be sentenced to up to 30 years in prison.
Dolan already is serving a 10-year sentence for sexually abusing three different children between 2016 and 2020. He pleaded guilty to those charges in 2021.
“We were careful with our kids,” said Matt Singh, whose son, Lincoln, 19, is one of the six victims who’ve come forward. The Singhs said they decided to speak out because they believe it may help others come forward. “We brought him to school thinking that would be a safe place. And he was taken out of class his entire seventh-grade year, two or three times a week and brought down to Dolan’s office. We were never told Dolan was taking him out of class. The school never told us anything about it.”
According to several criminal complaints: Dolan gave one victim $6,500 in cash, which the victim understood as hush money, and told him that if anyone found out about their illicit interactions, Dolan would “probably just kill himself because he has nothing else to live for.” He told another victim, “You’d better (expletive) do this or else I’m going to get you in trouble,” and motioned to his firearm. He became Snapchat friends with a seventh-grade football player and repeatedly sent the boy pictures of his genitals. In ninth grade, he began calling the boy to his office, plying him with snacks, then sexually assaulting him.
Clearwater County Sheriff Darin Halverson said in an email that he couldn’t comment about the case. Erich Heise, the superintendent of Bagley schools, did not immediately answer messages.
Lincoln Singh and his family said in interviews that he has suffered from depression and PTSD. His attorneys plan to file a civil suit against the district and the sheriff’s office, and the Singh family intends to advocate on behalf of other sex abuse survivors.
“I held it in for three years, and when you’re 13, it changes you when you hold it in that much,” he said. “If a little boy or girl can see me and it helps them talk to their parents, that’s when I know I’ve done what I can do.”
The medical center is owned by a local nonprofit, but operated by Duluth-based Essentia under an affiliation agreement that dates back to 2009.
With the ruling announced Wednesday, Essentia Health says it will continue to operate the hospital, clinic, assisted-living and long-term care facilities in Fosston, plus clinics in Bagley and Oklee.
“Now that the arbitration process is over, Essentia is focused on the opportunity to engage our patients, colleagues and the community in building a shared vision for the future of health care in Fosston,” said Dr. Stefanie Gefroh, interim president of Essentia Health’s West Market, in a statement.
Arbitrators were asked to rule on whether Essentia eliminated a “core” service by discontinuing deliveries, since the city of Fosston would then have the right to terminate the affiliation agreement. But the panel in a 2-1 vote concluded that labor and delivery is just one aspect of obstetrics (OB).
“OB is a ‘core’ service under the agreement, encompassing labor and delivery as part of comprehensive care for pregnant women,” the ruling states. “Simply put, while the delivery of the baby is an essential component, it is not the sole care provided to a pregnant woman.”
Fosston officials, including the town’s mayor, were involved in the arbitration because the city has a legal connection to the nonprofit owner of the medical center, which historically was a municipal hospital.
Star Tribune
Judge gives driver year in jail for being drunk, fatally hitting man in Minnesota street
A driver was given a year in jail Wednesday for being drunk when he fatally hit a man in the street near St. Cloud.
Tyler J. Nies, 26, of Sartell, Minn., was sentenced in Benton County District Court after pleading guilty to criminal vehicular homicide in connection with the crash shortly before 11 p.m. on July 28 in Sauk Rapids near the intersection of N. Benton Drive and N. 8th Street that killed Kevin D. Oehmen, 47, of Sauk Rapids.
Judge Robert Raupp opted for the year in jail while setting aside a 5¾-year term. Raupp also ordered Nies to serve 10 years’ probation, perform 80 hours of community work service, complete a chemical assessment attend a victim impact panel, abstain from mood-altering chemicals and stay away from bars.
According to the criminal complaint:
An officer at the scene noticed that Nies smelled of alcohol. Nies initially said he had one beer before driving his pickup. A preliminary breath test by the officer measured Nies’ blood alcohol content at 0.129%, more than 1 1⁄2 times the legal limit in Minnesota.
Upon further questioning, Nies said that before driving he drank three beers, which were about 16 ounces each.
Nies told police he was heading north on Benton Drive in the right-hand lane and suddenly saw a man walking in the grassy area next to the curb “like he was going to cross the road,” the complaint read. Police Chief Perry Beise added that Oehmen was on a street with no marked crosswalk.
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