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Chris Graves
Shakopee

Convicted sex offender charged in rape of Valleyfair employee

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A 26-year-old homeless man on probation for raping a teenager 10 years ago faces new charges alleging he raped a Valleyfair employee in August.

Austin J. Jones, 26, was charged with tightening a belt around the woman's neck and raping her near the SCALE Regional Public Training Facility in Jordan on Aug. 8, according to criminal charges filed in Scott County.

Austin Jones, 26, was charged in the rape of Valleyfair employee.
Austin Jones, 26, was charged in the rape of Valleyfair employee on Aug. 8, 2018. He was on probation for 15-years for a 2010 rape conviction.
Scott County Sheriff's Offce

Jones, who remains jailed, faces a Sept. 12 hearing on the latest charges that include first- and second-degree criminal sexual conduct in the most recent attack.

Court records show that Jones has violated the terms of his probation repeatedly after he was sentenced to 90-days in jail in the earlier rape case. His probation officer in that case told detectives that Jones was not in compliance with predatory offender requirements that mandate he registers his address weekly.

In the August case, the victim was on the phone with her boyfriend when she pulled into the training facility, which is where some Valleyfair employees live while working at the amusement park, according to the Star Tribune.

The victim told her boyfriend she saw a man leaning against a tree and went to see if he was OK, the charges said.

"...he suddenly heard her scream and exclaim: 'Ouch that hurts' and then it sounded like she dropped the phone," the charges said.

The boyfriend called police. When officers arrived they found the victim's phone on the ground near her car, its line still connected to her boyfriend's phone.

Officers heard a whimper and found the partially-clothed victim in a swampy area near the building, a belt around her neck. She told investigators they found her unresponsive, shivering and that she appeared to be in shock. At one point, the charges said, she appeared to have a seizure.

A short time later, officials found Jones "slumped over" his Dodge Durano, which was parked about a mile away, the charges said.

A DNA sample taken from the belt found on the victim matched Jones' DNA. And DNA tested on the front of Jones' underwear showed a match for the victim's DNA, the charges said.