A Minnesota State Trooper has been charged with sexually assaulting a 14-year-old girl in a series of encounters that began in April 2018 and continued until as late as last Friday.
The Dakota County Attorney's Office on Wednesday charged Shawn Gerald Barta, 36, with first- and second-degree criminal sexual conduct for alleged acts involving the teenager, who is described in the complaint as being "cognitively delayed and functions about a sixth-grade level."
"The alleged conduct outlined in this complaint is extremely disturbing and completely inconsistent with the core values of the Minnesota State Patrol," said Col. Matt Langer, chief of the Minnesota State Patrol, in a statement Wednesday. He added that Barta has been placed on investigative leave pending the outcome of the criminal case and an internal affairs investigation.
Barta has "denied anything happening between himself and [the teenager] at any time," according to the criminal complaint. He was arrested then freed from jail after posting $150,000 bond.
According to a criminal complaint:
Barta lives on the 13400 block of Nicollet Lane in Burnsville, where the acts of assault were alleged to have occurred. The girl was in Barta's residence as part of a "custody arrangement" every other week, according to the police complaint.
In the report, the relationship between the two is described as a "significant relationship," a legal definition under state statute that covers relatives and guardians or individuals that intermittently or regularly live in the same dwelling with the complainant. The exact nature of Barta's relationship to the girl is not spelled out in the police complaint.
The Burnsville police were first notified of the assault allegations by the girl's father on Sunday. The father said that his daughter disclosed to her grandmother that she had been going into a "locked room" with Barta at his address where both she and Barta undressed and he would molest her.
The girl told police she had been molested over the past year during the periods in which she was residing with Barta, which is every other week. She recalled an incident on May 23, 2018, coinciding with a date that she had a root canal. She said that on July 2 he motioned her into his bedroom and raped her.
The girl also said that Barta had recently been showing her sexually explicit videos "so that she would know what to do," according to the police complaint.
The complaint said that the girl's siblings and stepsiblings were interviewed and reported noticing that she and Barta went "missing" within the house several times and then later realized she and Barta were alone together in the defendant's bedroom.
The girl "had reported that her siblings asked her what they were doing alone but she did not tell them what was happening," the complaint said.
Barta was interviewed by police and acknowledged being alone with the girl in his bedroom when she was "hiding" from her siblings. He said he shut the door so they would have a harder time finding her, but denied sexual contact.
The first-degree count of criminal sexual conduct with a victim described as having a "significant relationship" where there are multiple acts carries a maximum sentence of 12 to 40 years imprisonment and/or a $12,000 to $40,000 fine. Barta's next court appearance is scheduled for Aug. 22.
Randy Furst • 612-673-4224 Twitter: @randyfurst
