CALEDONIA — A man accused of getting a 14-year-old Minnesota girl pregnant has been sentenced to 12 years in prison, stayed for 30 years.
Nathaniel James Owen Keller, now 28 and living in North Dakota, was sentenced Monday in Houston County District Court. In addition to the 144-month prison term, he was ordered to serve 365 days in jail and must register as a predatory offender.
Keller pleaded guilty in August to one count of first-degree criminal sexual conduct; in exchange, an identical count and two counts of third-degree criminal sexual conduct were dismissed. All are felonies.
The investigation began in August 2013, when authorities learned the girl was pregnant. In subsequent interviews, both the girl and her mother admitted that Keller had lived with the family and was likely the father of the unborn child, the complaint says.
When Keller spoke with law enforcement, he said he knew the girl was 14, and allegedly admitted to a sexual relationship with her at the family's home. According to the criminal complaint, Keller lived with the family from August to October of 2013.
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The child was born in March 2014; a DNA profile of the infant reportedly indicated Keller could not be excluded from being the biological father.
Sarah Dawn Anderson, 39, has also been charged in the case. A warrant for her arrest was issued when she failed to appear at a Feb. 23 hearing; she still hasn't appeared in court, where she faces one gross misdemeanor count of child endangerment.
