A St. Paul man accused of sexually assaulting an intoxicated woman he met outside a Minneapolis bar in the late fall of 2018 was sentenced to 10 years of probation this week.
Ramsey County District Judge Judith Tilsen placed several conditions on Tyreese Harris’ probation, including ordering him to complete treatment and stay off the internet unless granted permission by his probation officer. He also is forbidden from accessing pornographic materials or visiting strip clubs or adult bookstores, according to court records.
Additionally, Harris has to register as a predatory offender for the rest of his life.
If Harris fails to live up to the terms, he faces 7½ years in prison.
The sentence comes about two months after Harris, 43, pleaded guilty to one count of fourth-degree criminal sexual conduct. Two counts of first-degree criminal sexual assault previously facing him in the case were dismissed at his sentencing per the terms of a plea deal reached with the state.
Harris was charged after a 23-year-old woman who got separated from her friend outside a Minneapolis bar after a night of heavy drinking in November 2018 woke up in his bed without her clothes on, according to the criminal complaint.
The woman didn’t know Harris and couldn’t recall how she got there.
Her friend told police that she lost her friend while going to flag down an Uber outside the 508 Club in Minneapolis.
The woman, who woke up in Harris’ bed, asked him how she got there. He said they met outside the bar and that his friend dropped them off at his place because he was too drunk to drive.
When she asked if they had sex, Harris told her no, according to the complaint.
After she found her clothes, Harris gave her a ride back to her home in Minneapolis, where she found police taking a missing person’s report on her, legal documents say.
The woman was taken to Hennepin County Medical Center for a sexual assault examination in which staff found bruises on her arm “consistent with someone holding or grabbing her,” red raised bumps on her hairline “consistent with her hair being pulled,” and injuries “consistent with strangulation and/or forced penetration,” the complaint said.
The woman also had injuries to her genitals and complained of neck pain.
Harris agreed to give police a DNA sample, which matched the evidence taken from the young woman during her sexual assault exam.
Harris’ defense attorney, Evan Tsai, issued the following comment about the outcome Tuesday morning:
“Mr. Harris expressed both shame and remorse for the harm he committed to the complaining witness. He is actively taking steps to address his mental and chemical health, all while navigating the obstacles posed by the unfortunate circumstances of his life and his history with the criminal justice system. The sentence he received was a result of a plea agreement and a finding of a particular amenability towards being rehabilitated. The court made that specific finding.”
Prosecutors were partially motivated to reach a deal after learning that the nurse who conducted the sexual assault exam in the case was recently fired from the Hennepin County Medical Center for lying about her credentials, according to the Ramsey County attorney’s office.
Kristi Jarvis also worked for a brief time at Regions Hospital.
Her termination calls into question the integrity of the cases she was involved in examining during her career, the county attorney’s office reported.
In addition to Harris’ case, the Ramsey County attorney’s office is reviewing 12 other cases that Jarvis had handled.