Charges say a St. Paul man drove to Monticello to pick up a 13-year-old girl he had just met on a dating app, gave her alcohol and marijuana and sexually assaulted her at his apartment.

Brandon Jesse Johnson (Courtesy of the Ramsey County Sheriff’s Office)

Brandon Jesse Johnson, 32, was charged Tuesday in Ramsey County District Court with first-degree criminal sexual conduct and possession of a firearm without a permit in connection with the incident.

A judge set Johnson’s bail at $80,000, and he remained jailed mid-afternoon Tuesday. An attorney is not listed in his court file.

According to the criminal complaint:

St. Paul police about 11 a.m. Sunday responded to a call to assist another law enforcement agency looking for the girl. Officers tracked her phone to Johnson’s apartment in the 1200 block of Sherburne Avenue in the city’s Hamline-Midway neighborhood.

Johnson answered his door wearing only jogging pants. When asked if he knew the girl, he said she was in the shower and allowed officers inside to check on her. Officers found her on a bed partially clothed.

The girl told police she had downloaded a dating app and connected with Johnson early that morning. She said he picked her up around 3 a.m. at a park near her Monticello home and brought her back to St. Paul. He assaulted her multiple times at his apartment, the complaint says.

She underwent a medical examination at Midwest Children’s Medical Center. She said Johnson offered her “weed” and alcohol in his car and that she felt “completely out of it” and fell at his doorstep. She said he had gun in his car and that it “scared her and made her fear she would get shot if she left,” the complaint continues.

After the assaults, Johnson fell asleep and she texted her mom for help, the complaint says.

In his car, police found a black semi-automatic pistol on the driver’s side floorboard between the seat and pedals. A used condom was in a kitchen garbage can and a bottle of tequila on the kitchen counter.

In an interview at the jail, Johnson denied having any sexual contact with the girl and said he did not pick her up for that purpose. Monticello is just under an hour northwest of St. Paul.

Johnson showed police messages he exchanged with the girl on the Lovely app. About 3:15 a.m., she “reached out and said, ‘Hey,’ to which (Johnson) “told her to come to his place to watch a movie,” the complaint reads. “(The girl) said she couldn’t drive and he offered to go and get her.”

Johnson also admitted the gun was his and that he didn’t have a permit to carry, the complaint says.

Evidence collected from the girl’s examination and a forensic examination of Johnson has been submitted to the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension for testing and comparison; results are pending.

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By MAKIYA SEMINERA and GARY D. ROBERTSON, Associated Press

RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) — Democrats rallying Tuesday against a new U.S. House map proposed by North Carolina Republicans seeking another GOP seat at President Donald Trump’s behest acknowledged they’ll likely be unable to halt the redraw for now. But they vowed to defeat the plan in the long run.

The new map offered by Republican legislative leaders seeks to stop the reelection of Democratic Rep. Don Davis, one of North Carolina’s three Black representatives, by redrawing two of the state’s 14 congressional districts. Statewide election data suggests the proposal would result in Republicans winning 11 of those seats, up from the current 10.

The proposal attempts to satisfy Trump’s call for states led by Republicans to conduct mid-decade redistricting to gain more seats and retain his party’s grip on Congress in the 2026 midterm elections. Democrats need to gain just three more seats to seize control of the House, and the president’s party historically has lost seats in midterm elections.

With Republicans in the majority in both General Assembly chambers and state law preventing Democratic Gov. Josh Stein from using his veto stamp against a redistricting plan, the GOP-drawn map appeared headed to enactment after final House votes as soon as Wednesday. The state Senate gave its final approval early Tuesday on a party-line vote. A House redistricting committee debated the plan later Tuesday.

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Still, about 300 protesters, Democratic Party officials and lawmakers gathering outside the old state Capitol pledged repeatedly Tuesday that redrawing the congressional map would have negative consequences for the GOP at the ballot box in 2026 and beyond. Litigation to challenge the enactment on the map also is likely on allegations of unlawful racial gerrymandering.

“We know we may not have the ability to stop the Republicans in Raleigh right now … but we are here to show that people across this state and across this nation are watching them,” North Carolina Democratic Party chair Anderson Clayton said to cheers.

The gathering served Democrats to censure state Republicans they accuse of agreeing to kneel to Trump through a corrupt redrawing of district lines to target Davis.

State GOP leaders defended their action, saying Trump has won the state’s electoral votes all three times that he’s run for president — albeit narrowly — and thus merits more potential support in Congress.

The national redistricting battle began over the summer when Trump urged Republican-led Texas to reshape its U.S. House districts. After Texas lawmakers acted, California Democrats reciprocated by passing their own plan, which still needs voter approval in November.

Republicans argue that other Democratic-leaning states had already given themselves a disproportionate number of seats well before this national redistricting fight started.

“It is incumbent upon us to react to this environment, to respond to this environment, and not let these tactics that have happened in blue states dominate the control of Congress,” state Sen. Ralph Hise, the map’s chief author, said during Tuesday’s Senate debate.

By CORA LEWIS, Associated Press

NEW YORK (AP) — The Trump administration has agreed to resume student loan forgiveness for an estimated 2.5 million borrowers who are enrolled in certain federal repayment plans following a lawsuit from the American Federation of Teachers.

Under the agreement reached Friday between the teachers union and the administration, the Education Department will process loan forgiveness for those eligible in certain repayment plans that offer lower monthly payments based on a borrower’s earnings. The government had stopped providing forgiveness under those plans based on its interpretation of a different court decision.

The agreement will also protect borrowers from being hit with high tax bills on debt due to be forgiven this year.

“We took on the Trump administration when it refused to follow the law and denied borrowers the relief they were owed,” AFT President Randi Weingarten said in a statement. “Our agreement means that those borrowers stuck in limbo can either get immediate relief or finally see a light at the end of the tunnel.”

The Education Department said the Trump administration is reviewing forgiveness programs to identify ones that were not affected by court rulings that blocked much of the Biden administration’s efforts to cancel student debt.

“The Administration looks forward to continuing its work to simplify the student loan repayment process through implementation of the President’s One Big Beautiful Bill Act,” the department said in a statement.

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Several forgiveness programs are included

According to the deal, the Trump administration must cancel student debt for eligible borrowers enrolled in the following plans: income-driven repayment (IDR) plans, income-contingent repayment plans, Pay As You Earn (PAYE), and Public Service Loan Forgiveness (PSLF) plans.

If borrowers have made payments beyond what was needed for forgiveness, those payments will be reimbursed. The Education Department must also continue to process IDR and PSLF “buyback” applications. Balances forgiven before Dec. 31 will not be treated as taxable income, as they will in 2026 due to a recent change in tax law.

The administration must also file progress reports every six months with the court to show the pace of application processing and loan forgiveness, according to the AFT.

How many borrowers are waiting for forgiveness?

An estimated 2.5 million borrowers in IDR plans will be affected by the agreement, and another 70,000 are waiting for forgiveness through the PSLF program.

Even with the agreement in place, mass layoffs at the Education Department could factor into processing times for forgiveness, said Megan Walter, senior policy analyst at the National Association of Student Financial Aid Administrators.

If borrowers continue to make payments while their application is pending forgiveness, that will be refunded to them if they are successful, Walter said. “But keep really good records,” she said.

What are the PSLF and buyback forgiveness programs?

Public Service Loan Forgiveness, which has been in place since 2007, forgives federal student loans for borrowers who have worked at non-profit organizations or in public service after 120 payments, or 10 years. The Biden administration also created an option for borrowers to “buy back” months of payments they missed during forbearance or deferment in 2023, to allow more people to qualify for that forgiveness.

To determine if you qualify for a buy-back under the PSLF program, consult this page at the Education Department.

The Associated Press receives support from Charles Schwab Foundation for educational and explanatory reporting to improve financial literacy. The independent foundation is separate from Charles Schwab and Co. Inc. The AP is solely responsible for its journalism.