Accused Minneapolis serial rapist makes court appearance

MINNEAPOLIS (FOX 9) - Hennepin County Attorney Mike Freeman promised Wednesday that his office will do everything it can to make sure Jory Wiebrand, a man charged with multiple sexual assaults in Minneapolis, never terrorizes the community again.

Wiebrand currently faces charges in 13 cases including rape, sexual assault and burglary, primarily around the University of Minnesota campus.

“He stalked victims, usually at night, and approach them, sometimes attack them,” said Freeman.

Investigators are looking at him in connection with three to four additional crimes dating back five years.

Wiebrand made a brief court appearance Wednesday. One of his public defenders declined to comment when asked if her client understands the gravity of the situation.

“I think it is scary for the community especially the amount of time that it took for him to be apprehended that makes it a scary case,” said Artika Roller, of the Minnesota Coalition Against Sexual Assault.

Freeman admitted that prosecutors don’t know much about Wiebrand, who lived about 25 miles away from the scene of most of his alleged crimes in Ham Lake, Minnesota.

He doesn’t have an extensive criminal record, which made it hard for investigators to track him down, because his DNA was not on file.

Police eventually found his fingerprint on a window from an alleged break-in. That matched other evidence and eventually led to his arrest. It also meant relief for Roller.

“I think the relief is, there will finally be justice for women he attacked,” she said.