Winona County man being charged in alleged sexual assaults from 1990s

A St. Charles, Minnesota., man could get up to 15 years in prison, if he’s convicted of sexually assaulting an underage girl in the 1990s.

Richard Pollema made his initial court appearance Friday in Winona on a charge of criminal sexual conduct filed a month ago.

The 56-year-old’s accuser says multiple assaults occurred over two years, starting when she was 13 while the two were living in Iowa.

She had a baby during that time and says Pollema is the father. The child is now a teenager.

Police only learned of the alleged assaults this year.

Pollema promises he will not contact the accuser, or her son, while he is out of jail.