A LeRoy man charged with four counts of felony criminal sexual conduct pleaded not guilty to all charges Feb. 3 in Mower County District Court.
The charges against Steven Michael Allan Collett, 26, include three counts of third-degree criminal sexual conduct, with a victim age 13-15 and the defendant more than 24 months older; and one count of third-degree criminal sexual conduct-force or coercion.
According to the criminal complaint, a 15-year-old girl reported Sept. 23 that she had been sexually assaulted by Collett, who was then 25.
The alleged victim told police the two had met through a mutual friend and Collett obtained her cell phone number and started texting her. He eventually asked to meet her in person, knowing she was 15, according to the complaint. The two began meeting at a business in downtown Austin, and Collett told the girl he was in love with her and wanted to marry her, the complaint says.
On Sept. 3, Collett allegedly rented a room at an Austin hotel and asked the girl to join him there. According to the complaint, the girl agreed to marry him when he proposed to her at the hotel and gave her a ring. The alleged victim told police Collett then "trapped" her against the wall, ripped off her clothes and sexually assaulted her.
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The girl returned to the hotel for the next two days, the complaint says, and engaged in consensual sex with Collett.
According to the report, Collett met the girl's parents a few days later and asked her to lie about his age. A few days after that, the complaint says, Collett broke up with her for another teenager who lived in Albert Lea.
When interviewed by police, Collett admitted to having sex with the girl on three occasions but said it was consensual, the complaint says.
A pretrial appearance is scheduled for May 27.
