A man who was living in Worthington, Minn., after returning to the United States after being deported following a Minnesota conviction in the sexual assault of a child has been convicted again of raping another minor.
Mauricio Morales-Morales, 27, was sentenced last week to 28 years in prison in Nobles County District Court in an upward departure from sentencing guidelines.
Morales-Morales agreed to plead guilty to first-degree criminal sexual conduct involving force or coercion of a minor known to him, who was age 17 at the time in 2023. A Norgaard plea was also entered into the court record, which stipulates guilt in the crime but claims a mitigating factor of memory loss of the event due to impairment or other circumstance.
The criminal complaint also noted that the 17-year-old victim was in the country without parents at the time of the assault and was subsequently taken into protective custody.
Court records show that Morales-Morales was charged in 2019 in another case involving sexual assault of a 7-year-old girl known to him from his Worthington neighborhood. Morales-Morales was convicted in that case in 2020 on a charge of second-degree criminal sexual conduct involving a minor. Records show that the court granted Morales-Morales a stayed 30-month prison sentence, and he was given credit for 357 days spent in jail prior to conviction.
The upward departure on last week’s conviction was due to the aggravating factor of the prior conviction. The departure doubled the sentence called for of 168 months to 336 months.
The Worthington Globe reported following last week’s conviction that Morales-Morales had been deported following his 2020 conviction but had returned to the US in 2022.
Morales-Morales remains in custody in Nobles County at this time. It’s unclear whether Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) intends to intercept and detain him for deportation before being transferred to the Department of Corrections.
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Minnesota Crime Watch & Information publishes news, info and commentary about crime, public safety and livability issues in Minneapolis, the Twin Cities and Greater Minnesota.
Crime Watch MN
Minnesota Crime Watch & Information publishes news, info and commentary about crime, public safety and livability issues in Minneapolis, the Twin Cities and Greater Minnesota.
