Austin man sentenced to 24 years for sexually assaulting underage girl; Must serve a minimum of 16 years

Published 8:58 am Friday, January 4, 2019

Oscar Armando Vargas, 23

Oscar Armando Vargas, 23, of Austin was sentenced on Wednesday in Mower County District Court to two consecutive terms of 144 months in the Minnesota Correctional Facility in St. Cloud for two counts of felony first-degree criminal sexual conduct-penetration of child under 13 years of age. He received credit for 233 days served.

Another charge of felony first-degree criminal sexual conduct-penetration of a child under 13 years of age as well as two counts of felony first-degree criminal sexual conduct-penetration of a child under 16 years of age-significant relationship were dismissed at the sentencing as part of a plea agreement made on Feb. 20.

Judge Jeffrey Kritzer issued the sentence.

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Vargas was first charged in October 2017 after the victim, who was 15 years old at the time, told police Vargas had repeatedly assaulted her and that the sexual abuse started when she was six or seven years old, according to court documents.

She told police that Vargas then started having intercourse with her when she was 10 or 11, and that he said he would call her “a liar” if she told anyone. She said the last occurrence of abuse was two weeks before the police were called, but he had done it to her “too many (times) to count.”

When the victim disclosed the abuse to her parents, her stepfather confronted Vargas, who was “very nervous” during the confrontation. The victim’s stepfather told police that Vargas might have gone to Marshalltown, Iowa, to a family members residence. Marshalltown Police later located Vargas’s vehicle and told him to go back to Austin and surrender.

Under the terms of the sentencing, Vargas must serve a minimum of two-thirds, or 96 months, of each sentence, a total of 16 years. He will be eligible for conditional release once that time is up.