ROCHESTER, Minn. — A jury Wednesday convicted on all charges a former Rochester police officer and John Marshall High School speech team coach accused of sexually assaulting a minor.
Timothy Robert Morgenstern, 24, of Apple Valley, was charged with third-degree criminal sexual conduct, fourth-degree criminal sexual conduct involving sexual contact, and using minors in a sexual performance, all felonies.
Morgenstern is accused of having a sexual encounter with a 16-year-old girl in June 2022. The girl was on the John Marshall High School speech team that Morgenstern coached. Morgenstern was also an officer with the Rochester Police Department. He was terminated in October 2022.
A sentencing hearing was scheduled for April 16.
The maximum penalty listed for each charge is: 15 years in prison and/or a $30,000 fine for third-degree criminal sexual conduct, 10 years in prison and/or a $20,000 fine for fourth-degree criminal sexual conduct, and 10 years in prison and/or a $20,000 fine for use of a minor in a sexual performance.
Throughout the six days of trial, the state called witnesses to the stand, including the victim, the Olmsted County Sheriff’s Office lead investigator, the co-coach of the John Marshall speech team and friends of the victim. The defense called one witness, Morgenstern’s father.
During his closing argument, Corson pieced together a timeline with details provided in the witnesses’ testimonies. Corson argued that the relationship between the then-16-year-old and Morgenstern grew after she joined the speech team in February 2022. The alleged sexual encounter occurred on June 28, 2022.
“It was not a ‘he said, she said’ case,” Corson said during his closing argument.
Morgenstern’s attorney, Stephen Foerscht, argued that the sexual encounter did not happen because police found no evidence of text messages, phone calls, social media activity or sexually explicit images on both phones.
“The only evidence is evidence she created,” Foerscht argued during his closing argument.
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