Kasson Officer Charged With Sexual Assault

ROCHESTER, Minn. (AP) _ A Kasson police officer is being held on unconditional bond of $1 million for criminal sexual conduct charges in Olmsted County.

Fifty-one-year-old Julio Baez was arrested earlier this week at a Winona motel.

A complaint against Baez says he sexually abused two girls, one for 11 years, from the time she was 5 until she was 16 years old. The second girl says Baez sexually assaulted her beginning when she was four and from ages 18 to 23 when Baez lived in Byron.

The charges followed an investigation into what police say was self-inflicted gunshot wounds to Baez while he was on duty June 2. The Post-Bulletin reports Baez's attorney Christa Groshek, in court Thursday, said it wasn't clear who shot the officer. Groshek says Baez ``vehemently denies'' the accusations.