Parties net filing of sex charges

Published 12:00 am Monday, October 30, 2000

Monday, October 30, 2000

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Parties net filing of sex charges

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By LEE BONORDEN

Austin Daily Herald

Police say more evidence is surfacing against an Austin man who allegedly supplied liquor and marijuana to teen-age girls in exchange for sex.

Richard Paul Musolf, 32, was taken into custody late Friday evening at the Downtown Motel and charged with contributing to the delinquency of minors and fourth-degree criminal sexual conduct.

According to Police Chief Paul M. Philipp, Musolf is a suspect in a series of parties held at different locations in Austin, where 13-, 14- and 15-year-old girls were given liquor and either sexually groped or coerced into having intercourse.

"We still have a large number of interviews to do, concerning Mr. Musolf," Philipp said. "Not everyone is being forthcoming with us, but we have found some who are willing to talk and a mother came forward to tell us what her daughter said happened to her at a party hosted by Mr. Musolf."

There is a second unidentified suspect who also is wanted for questioning in the alleged incidents involving Musolf and teen-age girls, police said.

Last Thursday, an alleged victim was brought to the Austin-Mower County Law Enforcement Center by a Minnesota Department of Corrections officer, who told of a party hosted by Musolf at the Austin Motel near the intersection of Interstate 90 and U.S. Highway 218 South.

"They were playing a drinking game with a deck of cards and the girls were 13, 14 and 15 years old," Philipp said, reading from investigators’ reports. "They were required to drink shots of vodka and made to get drunk."

When some of the girls asked for a ride home, a woman agreed to do that for them. However, Musolf and the woman refused to allow one of the girls to leave the party and she awoke the morning after in the motel room and was told to walk home, police said.

Since that victim came forward, another teen-age girl has come forward to verify the story.

According to the Austin police investigation, the parties have been held at motels, private residences, garages and other locations for at least the last two weeks. Boys and girls were in attendance as well as adults.

"But, according to the early investigation, obviously the target was young women," Philipp said.

Musolf is on probation after a theft charge, police said, adding that there are no sex-related charges in his criminal history.