Sex offender charged in Willmar assault

A man with prior sex convictions in Wisconsin is now charged with raping, beating and robbing a 73-year-old woman in a Kandiyohi County church.

Sixty-one-year-old Lindon Roy Knutson faced four felony charges Monday in Kandiyohi County District Court. Prosecutor Connie Crowell says Knutson received a tour of Crow River Lutheran Church in rural Belgrade from the victim on Nov. 24 before he kicked her in the face, raped her and stole her purse.

The West Central Tribune reports Knutson had been civilly committed as a sexually dangerous predator in Wisconsin and was released in 2008 from the Mendota Mental Health Institute in Madison. He has been in custody in three states, and his first rape conviction was in 1975 in Wisconsin's St. Croix County.

Bail was set at a half-million dollars. Knutson was in custody Monday and couldn't be reached for comment.

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Information from: West Central Tribune, http://www.wctrib.com

(Copyright 2009 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)

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