Ex-Minn. chief pleads not guilty in sex case
A former police chief in southern Minnesota has pleaded not guilty to felony sexual misconduct.
Forty-three-year-old Jason Mindrup of Waltham pleaded not guilty Thursday to first- and third-degree criminal sexual conduct.
The Brownsdale City Council voted last week to fire Mindrup as police chief.
According to the complaint, a woman accused Mindrup of sexually assaulting her after leaving a Waltham bar on Aug. 31. Mindrup denied those accusations. Court files say he told investigators the woman asked to go to his house, but he instead drove her back to the bar where she had left her phone and purse.
Mindrup had been on paid administrative leave since early September while the Bureau of Criminal Apprehension investigated.
The Austin Daily Herald reports a pretrial hearing is set for March 28.
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