A Sawyer man is in custody after being charged with sexually assaulting a woman while she was unconscious.
Jamin Paul Beardsley, 45, was arrested Monday, Sept. 14, on charges of first-degree criminal sexual conduct relating to an incident July 3 at his home in Sawyer.
According to the complaint filed Aug. 18, the victim and her husband were guests July 2 at Beardsley’s home. The group was drinking and sometime in the early morning hours of July 3, the victim laid down on the living room couch and fell asleep.
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The victim’s husband stayed up with Beardsley until about 7 a.m. He tried to wake his wife, but was unable to do so and left the residence for his home. A short time later, the victim arrived at her home, and her husband told law enforcement she was “hysterical, could barely speak” and said Beardsley sexually assaulted her.
The victim texted her employer July 3 to tell them she could not come into work because of the assault. The victim also told a friend about the assault and showed the friend bruises from the assault and photographed them.
She went to Community Memorial Hospital in Cloquet on July 6 and reported the assault. She told law enforcement she heard her husband say goodbye to Beardsley, and she then awoke to find Beardsley sexually assaulting her.
The victim said she “froze and kept her eyes closed” during the assault, the complaint said.
Investigators made several attempts to take a statement from Beardsley, but he did not respond. He was charged by complaint Aug. 18 and appeared remotely in a Sept. 3 hearing, according to the Carlton County Attorney’s Office. Judge Rebekka Stumme issued a warrant at the hearing, leading to Beardsley’s arrest this week.
Beardsley is being held at the Carlton County Jail on $10,000 bail. If convicted, he faces up to 30 years in prison or a $40,000 fine or both.
