News Briefs: Guilty verdict in teen rape case

Editor's note: The following is a collection of news briefs from Forum Communication Company newspapers in North Dakota and Minnesota.

NORTH DAKOTA

Guilty verdict in teen rape case

FARGO – After less than a day of deliberation, a jury found 19-year-old Jermaine Jones guilty of gross sexual imposition, a Class AA felony that prosecutors say carries with it a minimum sentence of 20 years and a maximum life sentence without parole.

Sentencing for Jones will be set later, pending the results of a presentencing investigation. His mother said the family plans to appeal. “I’m going to fight for him,” she said.

Jones was charged with the forcible rape of a 13-year-old during a party at his home last September. Police went to the south Fargo apartment after receiving a call from a downstairs neighbor who reported hearing someone repeatedly saying “no” and “stop.” Police found the girl lying half-naked near a pool of vomit.

Jones’s attorney argued that the victim led Jones to believe she was older, and also argued that the sex was consensual. Prosecutors have argued that it was not a defense that Jones did not know the victim was 13.

Jones’s half-brother, Tremaine Jones, is also charged with gross sexual imposition upon another 13-year-old girl at the party. He is set to face trial next month.

Former Bison football player pleads guilty

FARGO – A North Dakota State University football player charged with indecent exposure pleaded guilty to an amended charge of disorderly conduct Tuesday in Cass County District Court.

Brandon Jemison, who was not present in court for the change of plea hearing, entered a plea change through his defense attorney.

Jemison, who was originally accused of exposing himself at West Acres Shopping Center last July while a woman and some children were present, was dismissed from the Bison football team after being charged.

His coach said the dismissal was based on a violation of team rules. His father told the Forum the incident was a “wardrobe malfunction.”

Jemison was sentenced to a suspended sentence of 30 days, plus another 360 days unsupervised probation. He is also required to undergo sex offender treatment.

Kmart closing in Jamestown

JAMESTOWN, N.D. -- Kmart will be closing its doors in Jamestown on May 19, according to Howard Riefs, director of corporate public relations for Sears Holdings, in Hoffman Estates, Ill.

Riefs said Kmart choose not to renew its lease with the Buffalo Mall due to “disappointing sales.”

“The store closures are part of a series of actions we’re taking to reduce on-going expenses, adjust our asset base, and accelerate the transformation of our business model,” Riefs wrote in an email.

Riefs said the Jamestown location has 45 employees; some are full-time and some are part-time. He could not provide a breakdown.

Alleged assault with butter knife lands Fargo woman in jail

FARGO – Police arrested a Fargo woman early Tuesday after she allegedly assaulted a male acquaintance with a butter knife.

Officers responded at 3:53 a.m. to a report of a woman with a knife at an apartment in the 800 block of 12th Avenue North.

Four people were in the apartment when officers arrived, including the victim, who said he had been stabbed, Lt. Joel Vettel said. The man had a small abrasion and bruise that didn’t require medical attention, he said.

The suspect had allegedly grabbed a large knife to go after the man, but others in the apartment tackled her and took it away, Vettel said. The suspect then grabbed a butter knife and allegedly assaulted the man with it, he said.

Jackie McCroskey, 25, of Fargo, was arrested on suspicion of aggravated assault and taken to the Cass County Jail.

Alcohol was a factor in the incident, Vettel said.

MINNESOTA

Red Lake Nation College adding basketball

RED LAKE, Minn. -- The Red Lake Nation College is looking to raise money and its profile with a men’s basketball program that tips off Saturday with an exhibition game.

In December, the U.S. Department of Agriculture Rural Development Program announced the Red Lake Band of Ojibwe will receive a $21 million loan that will help build a new college and government center – a project that will create a new hub for the community on the shores of Lower Red Lake north of Bemidji.

Dan King, the college’s president, said they hope to raise about $10,000 from an exhibition game Saturday against Turtle Mountain Community College.

Currently the Red Lake Nation College can hold about 130 students, which will increase to about 525 once the new school is built, King said. The basketball team, nicknamed the Migizi (Eagles), will play on the court in the current college building, which just received a new floor in the past few months.

College President Dan King said women make up 65 percent of the current enrollment. He hopes that a basketball team will generate interest from men who wouldn’t otherwise go to college there.

Tags: news briefs, news, updates