We are part of The Trust Project.
OLIVIA — A 22-year-old man convicted in the rape of two teenage girls in Franklin was sentenced to nine years in prison and a lifetime term of supervised release.
Lukus Alen Scheer, of Wabasso, formerly of Morgan and Redwood Falls, was sentenced Oct. 5 in Renville County District Court to 108 months in prison for first-degree criminal sexual conduct and 70 months for third-degree criminal sexual conduct.
Judge Laurence Stratton ordered the sentences to be served concurrently and gave Scheer credit for 14 days already served. Conditional release was set at 10 years in the first-degree case and 99 years in the other.
The sentence in the first-degree case is an agreed upon downward departure, meaning Scheer was given less time to serve than sentencing guidelines allow. According to the departure report filed in the court record, it was recommended by the prosecutor in an agreement with the victims and their families in order to avoid further trauma from testifying at trial.
Scheer pleaded guilty in April in the separate cases charging him in the rape of two girls, aged 13 and 14 at the time. As part of a plea agreement, two other counts of first-degree criminal sexual conduct and one count of second-degree criminal sexual conduct were dismissed in the case involving the 13-year-old.
ADVERTISEMENT
Sentencing conditions for Scheer include providing a DNA sample, registering as a predatory offender and paying more than $4,000 dollars in restitution.
Under Minnesota law, offenders are required to serve at least two-thirds of a sentence in custody and may be allowed to serve the remaining time on supervised release.
His expected release date from the Minnesota Correctional Facility in St. Cloud is Sept. 20, 2028, according to the Minnesota Department of Corrections website. Scheer will then be on supervised release for the rest of his life.
According to the criminal complaint in the first-degree case, Scheer and a 13-year-old female were at a residence on Oct. 1, 2021, in rural Franklin when Scheer asked her if she wanted to go for a drive.
According to the complaint, Scheer pulled to the side of a seldom-traveled gravel road and parked near a cornfield and some trees.
Scheer then grabbed the girl's neck. According to the complaint, she wasn’t choking but became fearful of what Scheer would do.
According to the complaint, Scheer told her to exit the truck and walk back to the tailgate where Scheer raped her, according to the complaint.
On a later date, between Oct. 7 and Oct. 10, 2021, the juvenile was with her friends at a residence in Franklin. A 15-year-old witness observed Scheer walking up to the younger girl and grabbing her buttocks while she was standing in the doorway.
ADVERTISEMENT
The witness told investigators that the girl appeared frightened of Scheer and that Scheer was laughing during the incident.
According to the criminal complaint in the other Renville County case, Scheer raped a 14-year-old at a residence in Franklin on Oct. 7, 2021.
