Prosecutors Dismiss Charges in Rochester Sex Assault Case

Rochester, MN (KROC-AM News) - The Olmsted County Attorney's Office has dismissed three felony charges filed against a Rochester man who was accused of sexually assaulting a teenage girl at a city park.

The criminal complaint was filed against 31-year-old Dante Terrel Cooper in December 2024. He was charged with one count of first-degree criminal sexual conduct and two counts of third-degree criminal sexual conduct.

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Accused of Sexual Assault at Rochester Park

The charges alleged that Cooper and another man raped a 16-year-old girl at Martin Luther King Park during the summer of 2024. The court document says the girl told police she had taken two children she was babysitting to the park and later returned to retrieve her cell phone.

The criminal complaint says she told investigators that she then encountered two males who came up behind her, grabbed her, and carried her into a porta potty at the park. After the alleged sexual assault, the girl indicated her attackers knocked over the porta potty before leaving the park.

She identified Cooper as one of the assailants and told police that she knew him.

The Olmsted County Attorney's Office recently filed a motion to dismiss the charges against Cooper. The court filing states that, at this time, prosecutors do not have sufficient evidence to prove the case beyond a reasonable doubt.

Charges Dismissed

Cooper still faces a gross misdemeanor fifth-degree criminal sexual conduct charge and a misdemeanor indecent exposure charge for an incident that occurred in the downtown Rochester skyway system in January 2024. In that case, he is accused of groping a woman after allegedly exposing himself and pushing her into a restroom near the University of Minnesota Rochester building.

Cooper is currently scheduled to stand trial in that case in August.