Charges: Man breaks into St. Paul home, rapes 14-year-old
A St. Paul man is accused of breaking into a home and raping a 14-year-old who was in bed.
Miguel Huerta, 47, was charged in Ramsey County District Court Tuesday with first-degree criminal sexual conduct and first-degree burglary. Prosecutors say that around 3:30 a.m. Monday, Huerta entered a St. Paul home through a door that wouldn't lock properly and raped a 14-year-old who had been sleeping in the living room.
The victim, according to the charges, said she woke up, saw a man she didn't recognize, but believed it was a friend of a family member — only for Huerta to grab her legs, pull her toward him and sexually assault her.
The teen's mother and her mother's boyfriend then came into the room and noticed Huerta hiding under the blankets, the charges state, at which point her mother hit Huerta and yelled at him. The victim's uncle had also just gotten home and said he saw a naked man in bed with his niece, so pulled the man away and punched him, according to the complaint.
Huerta ran off, and police were able to track him via footprints in the snow. They found him wearing nothing but sweatpants, lying under a pine tree in a backyard about five blocks away, the charges allege.
In an interview with police, Huerta admitted to the sexual assault but said he didn't know the victim was a girl because the lights were off, the charges allege.
The family said it does not know Huerta.
Huerta has two additional active criminal cases against him, neither of them for violent offenses.
He'd been arrested Feb. 3 in connection with a St. Paul auto theft, for which he was charged a few days later with receiving stolen property. He'd been released from Ramsey County Jail on his own recognizance on Feb. 4 in connection with that case.
And on Aug. 5, 2019, Huerta was charged with first-degree burglary and theft of a motor vehicle tied to two incidents in Shoreview. In one, he's said to have broken into an occupied home, stole some items, then left when he realized someone was there. He's also accused of stealing a restaurant owner's car. Huerta has made various court appearances since then, but in January of 2020 was found incompetent — meaning the case couldn't progress until the court found him competent to proceed.
He missed a hearing in December of 2021 and was arrested on a warrant on Jan. 6, 2022. That same day, the court ordered another competency examination, but did not find "the requisite need for [his] confinement" during the exam. Huerta was released from Ramsey County Jail that day, with conditions, including that he remain law-abiding and stay in touch with supervisors.
Huerta was arrested Feb. 14 in connection with the rape allegations, and remains in jail as of Feb. 17. The court has again ordered a competency examination, though signaled he needs to remain confined in the meantime.
Huerta's next hearing is set for April 6.
