Charges: Man Raped College Student After Walking Her Home
MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) – A Hinckley man is accused of raping a college student last spring after walking her back to her dorm from a house party.
An arrest warrant was issued last week for 23-year-old Pierce Gerald Heston, according to documents filed in Ramsey County. He faces one count of first-degree criminal sexual conduct, which is punishable by up to 30 years in prison and/or a $40,000 fine.
According to a criminal complaint, Heston raped the victim on the night of May 14, 2016, at her dorm room on the Hamline University campus in St. Paul.
The two had been at a house party, and Heston allegedly told the victim he had promised to make sure she got home safely.
After Heston walked the victim to her room, he admitted he'd lied about the promise, forced the victim onto the bed and raped her, the complaint states. DNA tests later showed Heston's semen was at the scene.
The victim was able to get away from Heston by saying she had to go to the bathroom, where she called friends for help, the complaint states. When her friends arrived, they confronted Heston, saying: "Why would you screw around with a drunk person?"
Heston left the dorm shortly after, telling the victim's friends not to assume he did anything wrong and that he was also drunk.
The next day, Heston allegedly told his roommate that he "f---ed up last night," the complaint states. When asked to explain, Heston said "some girl's like accusing me of assaulting her," and refused to speak of it further.
Heston did not respond to police attempts to talk about the incident.
According to his Facebook page, Heston studied at Hamline University as part of the class of 2016.
