Alleged Minneapolis serial rapist charged three more times for crimes dating back to 2015
Jory Wiebrand, 34, of Ham Lake, Minnesota is charged with criminal sexual conduct and burglary in connection with a sexual assault in Minneapolis in 2019. (Hennepin County Jail / FOX 9)
MINNEAPOLIS (FOX 9) - An alleged serial rapist arrested and charged last month now faces three more charges for criminal sexual conduct, burglary and harassment.
Tuesday, the Hennepin County Attorney charged 34-year-old Jory Wiebrand with the three new counts from March 2015, August 2018 and January 2020. The attorney said to expect more charges in the future as well.
April 19, Wiebrand was arrested in connection with a series of sexual assaults dating back to 2013 in the Marcy-Holmes and Dinkytown neighborhoods near the University of Minnesota. The next day he was linked to 10 sexual assaults in criminal complaints.
The three new charges filed Tuesday shed more light into Wiebrand’s modus operandi over the last seven years before his arrest, the Hennepin County Attorney said.
Mar. 23, 2015 – First-degree criminal sexual conduct
Charges say a woman was raped on the 1300 block of 7th Street in Minneapolis while she removed snow from her car.
The victim told police Wiebrand came up from behind her, sprayed her with pepper spray and forced her to the ground, sexually assaulting her.
The victim was able to get free and went to a nearby residence where neighbors were able to help her. She was taken to a hospital for an examination, which yielded a swab with a DNA profile matching Weibrand’s.
August 4, 2018: First-degree criminal sexual conduct and first-degree burglary
This set of charges say a woman was sexually assaulted on her back porch around 2:30 a.m. after she returned from a gathering with friends.
The woman said Wiebrand attacked her from behind, pulled her into her house and choked her while assaulting her. She was also sprayed with pepper spray. Wiebrand fled with her purse.
She was taken to the hospital where she also received an examination. Swabs found 99.99999997% of the population could be excluded from the DNA test, but Wiebrand could not.
January 3, 2020: Harassment and invasion of privacy
No assault was reported in the most recent set of new charges Tuesday, but the Attorney’s Office said the behavior police discovered in this case helped investigators better understand how Wiebrand operated.
According to charges, a man was seen “prowling” and looking into the windows of townhomes on the 900 block of 7th Street in Minneapolis. A few weeks later, the parent of a University of Minnesota student contacted police to say they had surveillance footage of the man from Jan. 3 looking into windows.
The video showed a clear image of Wiebrand’s face as he used a flashlight to look into homes. The behavior, investigators say, is consistent with Wiebrand’s previous behavior.
He would monitor the behavior of victims and attack them before or after they entered their homes.