Star Tribune
Duluth man pleads guilty to criminal sexual conduct with girls
DULUTH – With freshly selected jurors waiting nearby for the start of an expected days-long trial, a Duluth man facing criminal sexual conduct charges took a last-minute plea deal instead of facing the women he abused when they were children.
Clint Franklin Massie, 49, pleaded guilty Wednesday morning at the St. Louis County Courthouse to the four counts from incidents dating back to 2008-09 when two of his victims were young girls. The deal dismissed one of the counts against him. His sentencing is scheduled for March 20, and he could end up with more than nine years in prison. Massie, who was initially charged in February 2023 and has been out on $300,000 bail, was released until his sentencing.
In each case, the victim was known to Massie — whether they were related or through their shared membership at Old Apostolic Lutheran Church. He was friends with their parents and regarded as a fun, child-free uncle, according to reports from the investigation.
Assistant St. Louis County Attorney Michael Ryan told the court that the victims were satisfied with the deal.
“They have been involved in talking this through,” he said to Judge Dale Harris.
After Massie pleaded guilty, would-be witnesses and their supporters filed into the courtroom filling rows. Massie, dressed in a dark suit coat and khaki pants, turned to look. Ryan questioned him on the victims’ accusations — four specific scenarios where he had touched girls: during a sleepover at his house, when alone on a tractor, or beneath a blanket while others were in the room.
Massie said in court there were a lot of big gatherings and shared meals within this the group. It wasn’t unusual for one of the many children to sit on his lap.
At times Massie paused and said he couldn’t remember exact details or motives. At other times he deferred to what he told investigating officers last year. In each instance he ultimately agreed with the scenario presented by the prosecution.
Star Tribune
Alleged drunk driver in St. Louis Park Tavern crash that killed two pleads not guilty, will go to trial
Steven Frane Bailey formally entered a not guilty plea on charges that he killed two people and injured nine more by driving drunk and crashing his car into the patio of the Park Tavern in St. Louis Park over Labor Day weekend.
Bailey posted $500,000 bond in October and is out on conditional release while attending treatment for alcohol addiction. On Tuesday afternoon, he sat outside the sixth-floor courtroom of the Hennepin County Government Center with members of his family waiting for court to be called in-session. Family members of the victims of the crash congregated at the other end of the hall.
Steven Frane Bailey (Hennepin County Jail)
Judge Juan Hoyos entered the not guilty plea for Bailey and agreed to a trial start date of May 12, 2025 with an evidentiary hearing set to take place on Feb. 6, 2025.
Assistant Hennepin County Attorney Krista White noted that when Bailey completes his treatment there will need to be a discussion about what happens to his conditional release.
Hoyos had granted Bailey what is commonly referred to as a bed-to-bed transfer as part of his release from jail. Bailey is currently allowed to stay at his residential treatment facility and is only allowed to leave to attend meetings of Alcoholics Anonymous or Narcotics Anonymous and court hearings. He remains on electronic home monitoring.
Bailey was dressed in a white collared shirt with a tie and brown slacks for his appearance alongside attorney Thomas Sieben. He is facing 13 criminal charges related to the crash that killed Park Tavern employee Kristina Folkerts, 30, of St. Louis Park, and customer Gabriel Quinn Harvey, 30, of Rosemount and injured nine others, three seriously.
Kristina Folkerts and Gabriel Harvey (With permission from GoFundMe)
Folkerts, a mother of three, was a server at the restaurant where her mother had also worked. Harvey, a health unit coordinator at nearby Methodist Hospital and a nursing school student, was there with others celebrating a colleague’s departure.
The hearing on Tuesday lasted just a few minutes. Folkerts’ mother-in-law, Mary Smith, said she had driven 90 minutes with her sister, Patty Blakenship, to be there in honor of Folkerts. Smith said it was a bizarre scenario, seeing Bailey looking more or less like a free man. She said Folkerts’ youngest daughter, Halle, just turned 2-years-old.
Star Tribune
Minneapolis man charged with fatal chase that killed St. Paul man
An unlicensed driver fleeing Minnesota State troopers after a traffic stop in St. Paul hit speeds of more than 100 miles per hour before he crashed into a vehicle in a church parking lot, ejecting and killing its passenger before he ran from the scene last weekend, according to felony charges filed Tuesday.
The Ramsey County Attorney’s Office charged Lorenzo Leontay Washington, 28, of Minneapolis with criminal vehicular homicide and fleeing a police officer following the chaotic scene Sunday that resulted in the death of Day Por Tho, 36, of St. Paul.
Washington was booked into the Ramsey County Jail, and his first court appearance is scheduled for Wednesday morning.
According to charging documents, a trooper spotted Washington driving a Camry 30 mph over the speed limit at around 11:18 p.m. on Dec. 8. The trooper pulled over Washington’s Camry along I-94 East, but Washington fled before the trooper could reach him.
A chase began and the trooper told law enforcement that Washington was the only person in the vehicle. Washington sped over 100mph while fleeing police, ignoring troopers’ sirens and traffic controls before police stopped ground-level pursuit. A patrol helicopter sighted and followed Washington until he lost control near the intersection of Parkway Drive. He drove over a curb and into the parking lot of Gustavus Adolphus Lutheran Church where Tho sat in his Mazda car. The Camry struck the driver’s side of the Mazda, causing it to spin in counter clockwise, throwing Tho 30 feet before his body landed in the southbound lanes of Arcade Street. He was pronounced dead at the scene.
Washington ran from his car where officers found and arrested him. Investigators asked Washington what happened after the crash, but he responded “Uh, commotion … lights.”
When told he was being investigated for criminal vehicular homicide, Washington “showed emotion” and made comments suggesting he was the Camry’s driver. Washington said he did not see the vehicle he struck, but did see the troopers emergency lights.
“You’re going to force me to say it,” Washington said after police asked again if he drove the Camry. “I already told you wasn’t nobody else in the vehicle. I believe I told him that already.”
Star Tribune
Minnesota State Mankato to receive $2 million from Nidec Corp.
Minnesota State Mankato will receive $2 million from a Japanese electric motor manufacturer, the university said Tuesday.
The Nidec Corp. will provide money over the next five years toward the Maverick Innovation Gateway, a building under construction that will house entrepreneurship and agricultural programming.
A quarter of the money will also go toward programs at the university’s Center for Innovation & Entrepreneurship.
“We thank Nidec for this gift, which will provide the University and its students a location at which to work collaboratively with the regional community and industry,” said Edward Inch, Minnesota State Mankato president.
Nidec Corp., headquartered in Kyoto, Japan, comprises more than 300 companies, including Nidec Power in Mankato.