Charges: Fulda man sexually assaulted teen he met online

A Fulda man is accused of sexually assaulting a teen he met online.

Alex Duane Wildfeuer, 23, was charged Monday with two counts of felony third-degree criminal sexual conduct in Cottonwood County Court.

According to a criminal complaint, the 14-year-old girl and Wildfeuer first began talking in a group chat and met in person after about three months.  Court records say their first meeting was in Windom, where Wildfeur picked the girl up after school and went to McDonald’s and Island Park.

In early April, the girl’s mother noticed her messaging with someone listed as “my love,” according to the complaint. The girl told her mother that instead of going to her after-school activities, she had been having sex with Wildfeuer.  Her mother turned Wildfeuer’s number into police and brought her daughter to the local emergency room for a sexual assault examination.

Court documents say the girl told medical staff that she and Wildfeuer had “consensual sex” on three occasions, most recently in March 2023, but during a forensic interview with Cottonwood County investigators, the teen denied having sex with Wilfeuer.  The girl told investigators Wildfeuer was mad that her mother had found out about their relationship and that she had gone to a doctor.  The girl worried about getting Wildfeuer in trouble, says the complaint.

Investigators say 644 messages between Wildfeuer and the teen were discovered on the girl’s phone.  “In these messages, Wildfeuer repeatedly told [the victim] what to do, demanded that she shower with him, and Wildfeuer talked about hurting/killing himself when he didn’t get his way,” says the complaint.

Police say many of the messages were sexual in nature, including naked pictures of the teen, images of Wildfeuer and the teen kissing, and numerous images of Wildfeuer sucking on the girl’s toes.

The complaint says an app on the girl’s phone indicated that she and Wildfeuer began “dating” in late December.

Wildfeuer was arrested and released on a $25,000 cash bond.

Source:  Southern Minnesota News