NEW ULM — A 19-year-old New Ulm man accused of a sexual encounter with 15-year-old girl at South Park last summer faces five criminal sexual conduct charges in Brown County District Court.

Two 3rd-degree felony criminal sexual conduct-victim 14-15, 3rd-degree criminal sexual conduct-use coercion, 4th-degree criminal sexual conduct-actor more than 3 years older or authority position and 4th-degree criminal sexual conduct-contact under 18-use coercion charges were filed Sept. 29, 2023 against Jack Ernest Ringle. A Zoom hearing was set for 8:30 a.m., Tuesday, Oct. 24, 2023.

According to court documents, New Ulm Police Patrol Officer Cory Lyons talked with a juvenile on Aug. 15, 2023 who reported a sexual assault in South Park when she was with friends including Ringle last summer.

The girl said Ringle told her she had to kiss him if she wanted to leave. The girl said she was uncomfortable and wanted to go home, so she kissed Ringle on the lips.

The girl said she was at Ringle’s house on his birthday, Jan. 22, 2023, watching a movie with him in his room when he told her to remove her clothes, which she did and he had sex with her. The girl was 15 at the time and Ringle turned 19 on the date of the alleged incident.

The victim showed police text messages between herself and Ringle in which he admitted to having sex with her. The messages were taken as potential evidence.

New Ulm Senior Investigator Jeff Hohensee arranged for the girl to meet with a forensic interviewer at the Mankato Child Advocacy Center on Aug. 21, 2023 and she talked about her rape.

Ringle told Investigator Hohensee on Aug. 28, 2023 that he knew the girl was “about three or four years younger” than he was and that they had sexual intercourse, mostly in his bedroom at his house. Ringle said a couple times, the girl did not consent to having sex with him. Ringle admitted to texting the girl about the non-consensual sex acts.