Court trial begins, then postponed, for 76-year-old Pennock man who is accused of molesting a girl

WILLMAR -- The court trial of Harvey Alford Carlson, 76, of Pennock, began and was continued Wednesday in Kandiyohi County District Court.

Attorneys gave their opening statements in the case, where Carlson faces a second-degree criminal sexual conduct charge for allegedly molesting a girl when she was 5 to 11 years old.

The trial was then continued to March 16 and 17 by District Judge Michael J. Thompson. The postponement was granted after new evidence was introduced.

A recording of family members allegedly confronting Carlson about the abuse, was introduced, according to Connie Crowell, first assistant county attorney and the prosecutor in the case.

According to the complaint, a now 26-year-old woman told a Kandiyohi County sheriff's detective that Carlson had sexually abused her from the time she was about 5 to 11 years old. She said he began touching her breast area when she was 5 years old at a rural Pennock home.

The woman said Carlson allowed her to drive a vehicle on country roads when she was 8 or 9 and that he touched her breasts and vaginal area while they were out driving.

The judge has ruled that allegations by two other women, now in their 40s and 50s, that Carlson molested them while they were young girls, can also be admitted as evidence in the trial.