MN Appeals Court Ruling Favors Rochester Area Sex Assault Victim

St. Paul, MN (KROC-AM News) - The Minnesota Court of Appeals issued a ruling today in favor of a Rochester area woman in a civil case stemming from a sexual assault that occurred more than 10 years ago.

Nearly 5 years after the crime occurred following a street dance in Kasson in September 2013, the victim filed a lawsuit against 44-year-old Adam Michael Pyfferoen and 45-year-old Jeremy Michael Olson that sought damages for sexual assault, sexual battery, false imprisonment and intentional infliction of emotional distress. The Olmsted County judge presiding over the civil case threw out her claims for false imprisonment after ruling the statute of limitations on that claim had expired.

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The judge did allow the case to proceed based on the woman's claims involving sexual assault, sexual battery and emotional distress. Court documents indicate the jury that heard the case awarded her a total of $389,000 in damages.

Court records show Pyfferoen then appealed the judgment by claiming the judge should have granted his request to dismiss the woman's claims for damages for emotional distress, which accounted for $106,000 of the total damage award. The victim then also appealed, arguing the judge erred in the decision to dismiss her claims involving false imprisonment.

In a precedent setting ruling made public today, the Minnesota Court of Appeals rejected Pyfferoen's arguments and agreed with the victim that the false imprisonment claims should have also been presented to the jury because they stemmed from "conduct constituting sexual abuse," which fall under a six-year statute of limitations.

The decision sends the case back to Olmsted County Court, where additional proceedings may be necessary to decide if Pyfferoen could be liable for additional damages based on the woman's false imprisonment claims.

In the criminal case, Pyfferoen entered a guilty plea to a third-degree criminal sexual conduct charge through a plea agreement and was sentenced to 10 years probation. Olson, who did not appeal the jury award in the civil case, also entered a guilty plea to the same charge and was also sentenced to 10 years probation.

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