WILLMAR - A Marshall man has pleaded guilty to a criminal sexual conduct charge for having intercourse with a 15-year-old girl in Willmar.
Mathew Brian Soft, 24, of Marshall, entered the guilty plea Tuesday in Kandiyohi County District Court. As a condition of his guilty plea, and if the judge accepts it, the prosecutor agreed to recommend a stay of adjudication. His sentencing was set for June 8.
According to the court file, Soft and a Willmar girl met online in summer 2015 and then eventually met in person. She believed him to be about 22 and knew him by an alias "Bryan Garcia." They developed a relationship and engaged in kissing and "making out" in his car and in isolated places around Kandiyohi County.
The girl reported in November 2016 that they had intercourse sometime in late July or August 2016.
According to the criminal complaint, Soft was interviewed by Willmar police later in November. He allegedly admitted that he and the girl had a romantic relationship that had led to sexual intercourse on a trail near Robbins Island Park in Willmar.
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Soft told authorities that he had never asked the girl her age or told her his age.
