Man pleads guilty to randomly choosing his St. Paul home, sexually assaulting woman in Mac-Groveland – Twin Cities

A 34-year-old man pleaded guilty Wednesday to breaking into a woman’s home in St. Paul’s Macalester-Groveland in April and sexually assaulting her at gunpoint.

Deonte Marquon Thomas of Maplewood faces a 20-year prison sentence. Prosecutors and Thomas’ attorney have agreed to this, according to the Ramsey County District Attorney’s Office.

After his arrest on April 25, Thomas told police he drove around and “randomly picked a house to break into,” according to a criminal complaint.

The woman had called 911 on April 15 and officers were dispatched to the 300 block of South Snelling Avenue around 4:20 a.m. She said she was sleeping when she heard banging on the side door of her home and then saw a man break the glass of the door, reach in and unlock the door.

The man choked her, causing her to lose consciousness. He pointed a gun at her and she feared she was going to die, the complaint states. The man sexually abused her and at one point she bit his arm as hard as she could.

After he left, police searched for the attacker using sniffer dogs and drones, among other things, but were unable to find him in the area.

Police reviewed surveillance videos from homes. One of them showed a pickup truck in the alley near the victim’s home at the time of the attack. Five of six license plates were visible. Police were able to trace the license plate to a pickup truck registered to Thomas, the complaint states.

Thomas pleaded guilty Wednesday to first-degree sexual abuse with use of a dangerous weapon and first-degree burglary. A charge of possession of a firearm by a person prohibited from possession due to a felony conviction will be dismissed, according to the district attorney’s office.

Thomas, who is still in custody, is due to be sentenced in September. His lawyer was not immediately available for comment.

Sexual assault by strangers is rare; eight out of 10 rapes are committed by someone the victim knows, according to the Rape, Abuse & Incest National Network.

Minnesota court records show that Thomas’ recent convictions include disturbing the peace in Dakota County in 2020, domestic violence in a Maplewood case in 2019, disturbing the peace in a North St. Paul case in 2019 and violating a domestic violence restraining order in a St. Paul case in 2013.

He was charged with aggravated burglary and robbery in the 2008 Eagan and St. Paul cases, and pleaded guilty to receiving stolen goods in one case and aiding and abetting theft in the other.

Resources on sexual violence

Free services for victims of sexual violence and their families and friends are available through the St. Paul-Ramsey County Health Department’s 24-hour SOS Sexual Violence Services hotline at 651-266-1000 or [email protected].

For more information on reporting sexual violence in Ramsey County, visit ramseycounty.us/OnMyTerms.

The Rape, Abuse and Incest National Network offers more information and a national program directory at rainn.org.