Suspect in St. Paul 7-year-old's abduction committed as 'sexually dangerous person'

August Ruthaferd, also known as Mark Meihofer, was committed indefinitely into the Minnesota Sex Offender Program as a "sexually dangerous person" for kidnapping and sexually assaulting a seven-year-old girl in St. Paul's Cathedral Hill neighborhood.

The St. Paul, Minnesota man who allegedly kidnapped and sexually assaulted a seven-year-old girl in the Cathedral Hill neighborhood last May was civilly committed to the Minnesota Sex Offender Program Treatment Thursday, the Ramsey County attorney's office said. 

On May 5, August James Ruthaferd, also known as Mark Meihofer, abducted a seven-year-old girl in the Cathedral Hill neighborhood and then sexually assaulted her in his nearby apartment. 

The 48-year-old was charged with kidnapping and first degree criminal sexual conduct. At a court hearing in June, a judge found him incompetent to stand trial in a criminal court and referred his case to civil commitment court. 

On Thursday, a Ramsey County district judge committed Ruthaferd as a sexually dangerous person and a sexual psychopathic personality. he will continue to receive treatment at the Minnesota State Hospital in St. Peter. 

The Ramsey County attorney said committing Ruthaferd gets him on “the fastest track to addressing the psychiatric issues that contribute to his risk to community safety.”