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Police Arrest 3 Teens, Seek 2 More After 3 Sexual Assaults

By John Lauritsen, WCCO-TV

MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) -- Minneapolis police say a 45-year-old mother was sexually assaulted in front of her two children Wednesday night, and then her attackers sexually assaulted two more people at another location.

The suspects are a group of teenage boys.

On Wednesday night, the mother, along with her 13-year-old daughter and 10-year-old son, decided to go cross country skiing at Powderhorn Park.

While there, they were approached by five teenage boys, one of them had a gun. They ordered the family to get down in the snow so they could rob them, but the robbery took a disturbing turn. Two of the teenagers sexually assaulted the mother and threatened to assault her daughter, before she intervened and the boys ran off into a nearby neighborhood. But their crime spree didn't stop.

"I didn't hear no yelling or screaming because, if I did, I would have ran out and helped," said Autumn White.

White's garage became the crime scene for two more sexual assaults. While running from Powderhorn Park, the boys ran into a 16-year-old girl and an 18-year-old woman and ordered them into White's garage near 33rd Street and Bloomington Avenue.

Authorities say they took turns raping them before police arrived and arrested three of the teenagers. A 14, 15, and 16-year-old now face numerous charges.

White says she feels guilty this happened in her backyard. She tried talking to the victims after police arrived.

"I looked at them and said, what happened? Can I help you? They said we were just raped," said White. "They were just hysterical and I was just in shock. We have been living here for five years and I have never had anything like this happen. They were crying and bawling in each other's arms and when I asked them what happened, they just snapped at me. I didn't take offense because I know what they just went through."

The three teenagers that were arrested face charges of false imprisonment, criminal sexual conduct and aggravated robbery.

Police are looking for two more teenage boys that they believe are involved in these assaults.

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