Molester Who Accused Town Gets 40 Years

Confessed child molester James Rud, whose allegations of widespread child sex abuse shook a rural Minnesota community, was sentenced today to 40 years in prison.

Judge Martin Mansur gave Rud the maximum sentence allowed under state law on 10 counts of first-degree criminal sexual conduct and chastised him for discussing his case with reporters while he awaited sentencing.

Mansur said he had warned Rud not to talk to the media. “When you did that, you knew you were punching your ticket for the trip (to prison),” he said.

Worthless as Witness Rud’s statements to the media made him worthless as a witness in any further cases, the judge said.

Scott County Atty. Kathleen Morris said that Rud promised last September to be honest with state investigators under a plea bargain arrangement. Rud later recanted part of his statement implicating others in alleged sex parties involving children.

Rud, a 27-year-old trash hauler, was the first of 24 adults and one juvenile to be arrested on allegations that they sexually abused more than 40 children. Rud told investigators in a formal statement that he had abused at least 24 children in two years.

Rud was the only adult to plead guilty to the charges, under an agreement that he would testify against others. A jury acquitted the first couple tried, and Morris dropped charges against the remaining defendants.