Longtime Stearns County Deputy Gets 9 Months Jail

ST. CLOUD (AP) — A Stearns County sheriff's sergeant has been sentenced to nine months in jail for criminal sexual conduct and providing alcohol to minors.

Phil Meemken was also fined up to $3,300 at his sentencing Thursday.

Meemken pleaded guilty last month to one felony count of fourth-degree criminal sexual conduct and two gross misdemeanors for providing alcohol to minors. The charges stem from 2009 allegations by three young people who accused him of sexual assault. He initially faced 25 charges.

Meemken led the department's Police Explorer program and had been on the job for 18 years when the allegations surfaced.

The sheriff's department was unable to fire him while the case was pending, and had to pay him over $200,000 while he was on administrative leave.

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