Authorities Arrest Criminal Sexual Conduct Suspect in Lakeville

A Vermilion Township man wanted on charges of criminal sexual conduct involving girls as young as 8 was arrested Friday in Lakeville.

Steven James Rother, 60, is charged with two felonies: first-degree criminal sexual conduct, which carries a maximum penalty of 30 years in prison and a $40,000 fine, and second-degree criminal sexual conduct, which has a maximum penalty of 25 years in prison and a $35,000 fine.

A warrant for Rother’s arrest was issued Oct. 5, and two days later authorities found him in Lakeville. Rother remained in the Dakota County Jail Monday on a $75,000 bond. An omnibus hearing in his case is scheduled for Dec. 19 in Dakota County District Court in Hastings.

According to the criminal complaint, a Dakota County sheriff’s deputy met with a person on Sept. 17 who reported criminal sexual conduct involving a 10-year-old girl.

The girl told her grandmother that Rother—a family friend—was “very inappropriate.” She was asked to explain, and she told her grandmother that Rother had touched and licked her legs, genitals and buttocks.

The girl said Rother had had similar contact with a 13-year-old female member of his family. She said that girl told her that she didn’t like what Rother did—which included exposing his penis to her—but that she let him do it.

Deputies spoke to the second victim, who denied the first victim’s claims.

Investigators interviewed Rother at his home in Vermilion Township. He initially denied any sexual contact with either victim, telling authorities that he only hugged the girls, according to the complaint.

However, Rother eventually admitted sexually touching both girls on their genitals on “multiple occasions” over the last two or three years while they were at his home, the complaint says. He told investigators that the touching began as back rubs “that then turned into something more,” according to the complaint.

Rother admitted that he had exposed his penis to both victims and asked them to touch him, but said he was incapable of getting an erection, according to the complaint.

Investigators then re-interviewed the second victim, who apologized for not telling the truth and said she hadn’t wanted other family members to get hurt. She told authorities that the sexual abuse started when she was 8; when investigators asked her how many times it happened, she provided an estimate of 50.