Father of twin daughters charged with abuse, criminal sexual assault

MINNEAPOLIS (KMSP) - A 51-year-old Minneapolis father is accused of abusing and raping his twin daughters for over a decade.  

The women are considered vulnerable adults and are now 21 years old.

The father faces charges of assault, stalking, abuse, criminal sexual conduct and more. The women’s 47-year-old mother was also charged with criminal neglect. 

The victims told police their father repeatedly hit them with bats and paddles. Their parents also allegedly chained them to their bedroom door, sometimes for days. One of the daughters also has permanent damage to her vision and a torn ear after she says her father stomped on her head. Both victims have multiple scars and injuries from the long term alleged abuse.

The victims say their father would rape them when their mother wasn’t home. It’s alleged one of the twins has two children by her father. One child is two to four months old and the other is now nine years old. It appears at least one of the children was also abused, though not nearly as severely as the twins.

“The conduct of these two people, if we prove it in court, is as repulsive and horrendous as anything I have seen in my 18 years as county attorney,” said Hennepin County Attorney Mike Freeman. “We intend to file for aggravated circumstances. That will allow us if we’re successful to get a much longer and higher sentence against [the father], hopefully long enough, so he never sees the light of day.”

It seems there had been questions by health care personnel about the injuries, but the victims were afraid to explain what had happened.

The recent investigation was prompted when the female guardian reported one of the women missing. She was later found at a homeless shelter.

The women and the children are safe and in protective custody.