Provisionally Released Predatory Sex Offender Moving to Rochester

Rochester, MN (KROC-AM News) - The Rochester Police Department has issued a community notification concerning a predatory offender who will soon be transitioning from the Minnesota Sex Offender Program to live in Rochester.

Details of Past Convictions and Crimes

Minnesota court records indicate that 50-year-old Leon James Preston was civilly committed as a sexually dangerous person in 1999. He was previously convicted of first- and second-degree criminal sexual conduct charges stemming from three separate cases in Sibley and Scott counties in 1996 that resulted in an 81-month prison sentence.

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Victimized Children

Information provided by Rochester police indicates Preston was accused of engaging in repeated incidents of sexual contact against multiple female children in 1992 and 1993. The statement says he used "varied relationships of trust to attain and exploit unmonitored access" to his victims and then used "manipulation and coercion in his efforts to maintain control."

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Upcoming Release and Rochester Address

Preston, who is categorized as a Level 2 sex offender, is currently scheduled to be provisionally discharged from the Minnesota Sex Offender Program on April 7. He has listed a halfway house on the Olmsted County campus in southeast Rochester as his next residence.

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Gallery Credit: Minnesota Now

Filed Under: Local Crime Coverage, Olmsted County, predatory offender, Rochester Minnesota, Rochester Police Department, sexual assault

Categories: Local News