Assaults On Children Prompt Community Meeting In St. Paul

MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) -- A child safety meeting is planned in St. Paul after two children were assaulted this month.

The community meeting will be held Thursday night at Saint Paul College.

Currently, St. Paul police are investigating the sexual assault of a 7-year-old girl that happened on May 5.

Mark Meihofer, 47, has been charged with kidnapping and criminal sexual misconduct.

Police believe he took the girl from outside a home on the 300 block of Dayton Avenue. Within two hours, police tracked the child down at a halfway house around the corner.

Prosecutors say the suspect drugged the girl and led her to believe she would never see her parents again if she didn't follow his orders.

Investigators are still trying to determine if Meihofer is connected to the brutal assault of a 5-year-old girl a few days earlier, on May 2.

Police say someone attacked her while she waited for her school bus. The girl was found near the intersection of Park Street and Cook Avenue.

Police say the 5-year-old's mother dropped her off at a bus stop around 8 a.m., but when her bus came, she was not there.

The driver of a second bus noticed the girl hiding behind a tree and called for help.

Authorities say the girl was bleeding from her nose and mouth, her face was swollen and it appeared she had a broken nose.

Thursday's meeting starts at 6:30 p.m. and will continue until 8 p.m.

Community members will also have the chance to ask questions.