Stearns County Jury Acquits Southern MN Man on Rape Charge

ST. CLOUD -- A Stearns County jury has acquitted a south-central Minnesota man accused of raping a sleeping woman at a St. Cloud hotel.

Thirty-nine-year-old Kyle Kirsch of Gaylord was found not guilty on a felony charge of 3rd-degree criminal sexual conduct for the 2019 incident.

According to the charges, the woman said she had been out drinking on a September afternoon with Kirsch, his wife, and another man when Kirsch and his wife got into an argument. Records show the wife left after that argument.

The victim told police she, Kirsch and the other man went back to her hotel room at the Days Inn around 1:00 p.m. to take a nap. According to the filing complaint, the woman and Kirsch were in one of the beds and the other man slept in the second bed. They were fully clothed.

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Records show the woman woke up and realized her pants and underwear had been pulled down and Kirsch was on top of her raping her. The report indicates she began screaming at Kirsch and that caused the other man to wake up.

Police interviewed that man who said he woke up to the victim screaming that Kirsch had raped her.

Police interviewed Kirsch who allegedly admitted being in the same bed with the woman but denied intercourse had taken place.

The acquittal came after a two-day trial.

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