Gerald Floyd Crain Jr. (OTCDF)
Fergus Falls, MN – 51-year-old Gerald Floyd Crain Jr., a man convicted of multiple sexual offenses against minors, has had his latest sentence of 13 years in prison lessened to 5 years of probation due to a prosecutor’s mischaracterization of innocence during closing arguments.
Crain was arrested in June of 2020 for sexually assaulting his 5-year-old grandniece in her home in Otter Tail County, which the parents learned about after two of his other grandnieces, ages 4 and 7, came forward about their own incidents with their uncle.
Crain was eventually convicted on four of the five charges of criminal sexual conduct and sentenced to 13 years at the MN Correctional Facility in St. Cloud, however his attorney sent a request to the courts for an appeal.
They claimed that the prosecuting attorney, Matt Spielman, committed misconduct by misstating the presumption of innocence during the closing arguments of the case, and the Appellate Court ultimately agreed with the defense.
According to court documents, Spielman had stated, “As far as the presumption of innocence is concerned, as soon as the State starts putting on witnesses and offering evidence into—into the court record, that presumption of innocence goes away. After the State rests its case, that presumption of innocence, gone,” and, “If you believe her . . . you have to find the defendant guilty.”
Otter Tail County Attorney Michelle Eldien says that the issue of prosecutorial misconduct is a hot topic, especially in Minnesota, “All the other judges and defense attorneys, they call it err. That misconduct has become a big deal and we’ve been trying to work with the courts to maybe treat us the same as others.”
In regards to Crain’s case, she says, “They [the Appellate Court] said that in this particular case, how the words were used by Mr. Spielman, that was considered to be misconduct enough to warrant a new trial. Unfortunately it’s a common thing.”
The Appellate Court remanded the original trial and stated that Crain had the right to a new trial.
According to Eldien, at that point in the judicial process, it is determined whether to go through with a new trial or resolve it with a plea agreement, and that especially in cases where the victim is a young child, the prosecution will consult with the victims and their families to determine what they feel is just and right at that time, which in this case let to a plea agreement for the defendant.
She says, “My understanding is that Mr. Spielman did that with the family, about their children, and made the decision that in this case, he [Crain] had already served over 400 days in prison, that a conviction for a criminal sexual case here, along with the probationary terms that were discussed for sentencing today… as long as we got a criminal sexual conviction here, that we would agree to that credit for time served and not put the victims through a trial again like they had to a few years back and not traumatize them.”
Crain has now plead guilty to 2nd Degree Criminal Sexual Conduct with a Minor under 13, and will be on probation for 5 years, as well as needing to register as a Predatory Offender, have no contact with the victim, and have no unsupervised contact with minors under the age of 18.
Crain was previously convicted for two counts of 5th Degree Criminal Sexual Conduct in Anoka County in 2022 and another charge for having “routinely slept with his minor child, female,” in Sibley County, 2005.