Judge finds Mueller guilty on 12 counts

Simon Christopher Mueller, 27, was found guilty Friday afternoon in Goodhue County District Court of molesting three girls when they were 3, 4 and 6.

First District Judge Kevin Mark delivered a guilty verdict on seven counts of first-degree criminal sexual conduct and five counts of second-degree criminal sexual conduct. Mueller was found not guilty of two first-degree counts of criminal sexual conduct.

According to court complaints filed in June and December last year, Mueller sexually touched each of the victims on multiple occasions.

Now ages 4, 5 and 7, the three girls testified Feb. 21 shortly after the trial opened. One week later, attorneys presented closing arguments.

While Assistant Goodhue County Attorney Erin Kuester said that Mueller took the victims out of the “world of little girls” and “brought them into the adult world,” defense attorney Douglas Bayley argued that the state’s case relied primarily on the girls’ testimonies, in which he saw “many, many inconsistencies.”

At Friday’s hearing, Judge Mark declared that a pre-sentence investigation — which will include a psychosexual evaluation — be done before Mueller returns for sentencing May 4. Mueller could face up to 30 years in prison and a $40,000 fine for each first-degree charge of which he was found guilty.

Mueller has been held in Goodhue County Jail since June. Bail was previously set at $150,000, but release conditions were amended Friday and he will be held without bail until the sentencing.

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