An Eagan man admitted to groping a female employee who fainted while admitting him to a St. Paul sex offender program.
Matthew Vincent Dick, 43, pleaded guilty in Ramsey County District Court this week to one count of fourth-degree criminal sexual conduct, court records say. The gross-misdemeanor conviction involves assaulting someone who was impaired or helpless at the time.
He was immediately sentenced to a year in jail and given credit for the 48 days he served following his 2016 arrest for the offense.
Dick was undergoing intake for a sex offender program at Project Pathfinder in St. Paul on Sept. 29 of that year when a 26-year-old employee helping with his paperwork fainted. When she regained consciousness, Dick was standing behind her and fondling her breast, according to the criminal complaint filed against him.
He removed his hand from beneath her shirt and bra to get help, but the woman told police that Dick probably didn’t realize she had regained consciousness at the time, since she was in shock and didn’t move, charges said.
When speaking with police over the phone after the incident, Dick “denied touching so much as a hair on (the victim’s) head,” charges said.
He initially pleaded not guilty to the charge, but amended his plea this week.
He was convicted in Dakota County earlier this year of second-degree criminal sexual conduct involving a minor.
In that case, a judge departed from state sentencing guidelines and gave Dick a stayed seven and a half year sentence.
That means he’ll only have to serve the prison time if he fails to abide by the terms of his 25-year-probation.
He was also ordered to spend a year in jail for the felony charge.
Dick’s attorney, Justin Michael Schiks, could not be immediately reached for comment.