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Jury finds Thief River Falls man guilty of sexual assault

A jury found a Thief River Falls, Minn., soccer coach guilty Monday on all counts of sexually assaulting an 18-year-old woman. Senen Guerrero Sr., 45, was charged with two felony counts of criminal sexual conduct in the third degree and one gross...

A jury found a Thief River Falls, Minn., soccer coach guilty Monday on all counts of sexually assaulting an 18-year-old woman.

Senen Guerrero Sr., 45, was charged with two felony counts of criminal sexual conduct in the third degree and one gross misdemeanor count of criminal sexual conduct in the fifth degree.

After closing arguments Monday, the jury began deliberating about 10:15 a.m., said Prosecutor Steve Moeller, assistant Pennington County attorney. The verdict was delivered six hours later at about 4:15 p.m., he said.

Moeller would not comment on the verdict, pending a pre-sentencing investigation. Guerrero will be sentenced Jan. 12. Each third-degree count could carry up to 15 years in prison, a $30,000 or both while the gross misdemeanor could carry up to one year in prison, a $3,000 fine or both.

The criminal charges stemmed from incidents this past spring.

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Guerrero had inappropriately touched the victim several times during car rides, and he eventually performed oral sex on her against her will, according to her court testimony earlier this month.

Throughout the trial, Guerrero maintained the incidents were consensual. Moeller said neither side's argument changed in court Monday.

Defense Attorney Scott Collins did not return a call Monday from the Herald for comment.

Incidents

Guerrero had been a friend of the victim's family and the victim's soccer coach, according to court documents.

In December 2013, court documents say the victim accepted a car ride from Guerrero and he drove them to a wooded area near Northland Community & Technical College in Thief River Falls, Minn. He hugged and kissed her at that time but stopped when she told him to.

The first assault happened in May 2014 near Northland, according to court documents.

During that incident, Guerrero persistently touched the victim despite her verbal protests.

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He assaulted her again June 6 after the two of them practiced soccer for about 20 minutes, according to court documents.

On June 15, he forced oral sex on her in a car near the Petro Pumper convenience store on U.S. Highway 59 in Thief River Falls, and he had threatened to kill himself if she did not meet him in person that day, according to the documents.

In an eight-hour testimony earlier this month, the victim said she told Guerrero "no" multiple times during the incident near the gas station, but he didn't listen.

After that night, the victim "realized it that it wasn't an accident that he did all of those things," she told jurors.

Guerrero testified the incidents were consensual. Earlier this month, he agreed the victim said "no" two times during the May 2014 incident near Northland, but then became silent.

He also testified she took her own clothes off and touched him during the incident near the gas station.

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