Chicago man with 5 felony sex charges remanded to jail

ALEXANDRIA — A Chicago man with five felony sex charges against him has been remanded to jail until he completes a psycho-sexual evaluation.

The decision to keep Chris David Giles-Ambriz, 25, at Douglas County Jail was made in Douglas County District Court on Thursday, June 30, on what was to have been his sentencing date.

The sentencing was delayed until the evaluation could be completed, and is now set to take place on Aug. 26.

Giles-Ambriz was scheduled to have the evaluation, but did not appear for it, it was said in court.

In addition to the evaluation, if he is released before sentencing, Giles-Ambriz must wear an ankle monitor, the cost for which he is to cover himself.

Giles-Ambriz was already in custody in Douglas County on two DWI charges.

A former Long Prairie resident, Giles-Ambriz was charged with two counts of felony criminal sexual conduct in the third degree, two counts of felony criminal sexual conduct in the fourth degree and felony electronic solicitation of a child.

A plea agreement filed in March reads that Giles-Ambriz has agreed to plead guilty to at least one of the fourth-degree counts.

The charges stem from an incident that occurred on Oct. 1, 2020, when Giles-Ambriz allegedly assaulted a 13-year-old.

According to the statement of probable cause, the assault ended when the victim pulled a knife on Giles-Ambriz and put it up to his face, after which time the victim was able to get away from him.

Giles-Ambriz was arrested after attempting to meet with the victim again, making arrangements to do so via Snapchat, the statement read.

Giles-Ambriz also has a case pending against him in Wright County, in which he is charged with criminal sexual conduct in the first degree, two counts of criminal sex conduct in the third degree and one count of criminal sex conduct in the fifth degree.

A warrant was issued on June 22 for a Richville, Minn., man charged with possessing 1.8 pounds of methamphetamine.

James Fitzpatrick Helps has been charged with one felony controlled substance crime in the first degree — methamphetamine possession in excess of 100 grams and one count of felony possession of ammunition by a prohibited person — previously convicted of a crime of violence.

Helps also has two misdemeanor charges against him.

The warrant was issued after Helps failed to appear for an omnibus hearing in Douglas County District Court on June 15.

According to the statement of probable cause, Helps was arrested in Alexandria in December 2021 after he was pulled over for having a canceled driver's license and an obscured license plate.

Helps was placed under arrest after he performed a field-sobriety test and appeared to be impaired, the statement read.

A search of Helps' vehicle revealed the presence of a 9 mm bullet and three socks containing bags of what appeared to be methamphetamine, the statement read.

The substance in each bag field-tested positive for methamphetamine and weighed 827.8 grams, or 1.8 pounds in total, the statement read.

Helps also has felony drug charges pending against him in Otter Tail County and Clay County, the statement read.

In addition, he has been convicted of first degree burglary and fifth degree controlled substance possession in Otter Tail County, the statement read, both of which are considered crimes of violence and make Helps ineligible to possess firearms or ammunition for his lifetime.