NEW ULM — A 21-year-old St. James man accused of sexually assaulting a 15-year-old Sleepy Eye girl last summer near the Cottonwood River, faces a third-degree felony criminal sexual conduct charge in Brown County District Court.

The charge was filed and a warrant was issued Monday, June 6, for Gerardo Noel Morales-Bartolon, 819 Weston Ave. in St. James. He is currently in Kandiyohi County Jail custody, according to the complaint.

Sleepy Eye Police Investigator Shawn Bohnen got a phone call from a witness on Aug. 2, 2021, who said the alleged 15-year-old victim was about two months pregnant and had sex with Morales-Bartolon, who lived in Madelia.

Morales-Bartolon used two different social media platforms to make in-person contact with the victim, according to her statement.

On Aug. 16, 2021, Bohnen watched a forensic interview of the victim, who said Morales-Bartolon friended her on Facebook, messaged her in early June 2021, and asked her out on Snapchat.

The victim described Morales-Bartolon as a short Hispanic male with short black hair and a right forearm tattoo. She said he drove to Sleepy Eye, picked her up, drove her to the Cottonwood River landing south of Sleepy Eye and told her he was 18. She told him she was 15 years old.

The victim said they had sex. She then got pregnant and messaged him about it. He responded by blocking her on Facebook and Snapchat.

On May 6, Brown County Investigator Andrew Konechne talked with Morales-Bartolon, who said his relationship with the victim began with conversation, and he wanted to meet her after they agreed to text each other.

A warrant for Morales-Bartolon’s DNA was signed by a judge, and Konechne provided a sample to the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension.

On June 2, Konechne received DNA results indicating Morales-Bartolon cannot be excluded from being the biological father of the victim’s baby, and 99.9% of the general population can be excluded as the biological father of the child.