Man charged with sex assault of 11-year-old neighbor
Police have charged a 41-year-old man from Inver Grove Heights with three felony counts after he allegedly entered a young boy's house without permission and sexually assaulted him last week.
James Albert Silbernagel faces two counts of first-degree burglary and one count of second-degree sexual conduct after entering the house of an 11-year-old on Thursday evening, and surprising the boy with a knock on the bathroom door as he was taking a shower, authorities said.
Silbernagel is a neighbor of the victim. He had been in the boy's house earlier that day to use the phone with permission from the boy's mother, but came again after the mother had left the house.
According to the criminal complaint, Silbernagel had a knife in his hand when he asked the boy to take off his towel. When the boy refused, Silbernagel began to assault him, according to the complaint.
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The boy managed to put on a pair of shorts, before running to a neighbor's house and calling police, authorities said.
Silbernagel was arrested shortly afterward inside the boy's house. When officers found him, he appeared to have just gotten out of bed and smelled of alcohol.
Officers found two condoms and a folding knife in Silbernagel's pant pocket. He refused to take a preliminary breath test, according to the complaint.
Silbernagel is being held at the Dakota County Jail. At his first court appearance Friday, his bail was set at $150,000 or $100,000 with conditions, including that he has no unsupervised contact with minor children and no contact with the boy.
Silbernagel faces up to 25 years in prison if found guilty. His next court date is June 29.
