Man Charged With Rape Of Girl Ditched At Brainerd Gas Station Convicted Of Lesser Charge

Saturday, August 04, 2012

A man charged with two counts of rape was instead convicted of two counts of sexual battery in Criminal Court.

Timothy Shawn Jones will be sentenced by Judge Barry Steelman on Oct. 1.

A girl who was 16 at the time of the May 18, 2010, incident  testified that she was raped after agreeing to go with Jones to his nearby house "for drinks" after she said her boyfriend drove off without her.

Jones was 22 at the time of the inciden.

Prosecutor Carl Huskins said the girl was supposed to be home by 11 p.

m., but was still with the boyfriend when they pulled into a Conoco on Brainerd Road shortly before midnight. He said the boyfriend drove off while she was inside buying cigarillos, taking her cell phone and money.

He said the girl began talking with Jones, who had ridden to the convenience store on a bicycle from his nearby home. He said she agreed to go with him, but resisted his affections.

The girl said she had "no idea" why the boyfriend ditched her, and she said she has not heard from him since.

She said she was sitting on the sidewalk outside the store when Jones began chatting with her, then she agreed to go with him. She said when they got to his house, he told her there were people sleeping inside and they needed to stay in the back yard.

She said he began kissing her and she told him to stop. But she said he pulled down her pants and underwear and raped her on top of an air conditioning unit. She said he also forced her to perform a sex act on him.

She said she then ran off and began walking down Moore Road toward Brainerd High School.

Prosecutor Huskins noted that she accepted a ride from two men, who went looking for Jones after hearing her story. He said they were knocking on doors in the neighborhood when police arrived.

He said Jones denied having sexual contact with the girl, but he said her DNA was found on his clothing. He said an examination of the girl showed lacerations in her vaginal area.

Defense attorney Curtis Bowe asked the jury to find his client not guilty, saying her story did not add up. He said of many assertions by her, "Is that reasonable?"   

He asked if it was reasonable "that she get in a car with two black guys after she said she had just been raped by another black guy."

Lance Pope is also prosecuting the case before Judge Barry Steelman.

He noted that the girl's choice of following Jones to his house "was a bad decision."


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