In one of Mankato's 2010 top ten stories, county commissioner says he was duped by Giefer

Since I'd spent Christmas doing Christmas things, I missed a Jeremy Giefer story in the Mankato Free Press. Crime beat reporter Dan Nienaber reports in Top Ten Stories of 2010: 10 — Pardon carries political price for Pawlenty:

A Vernon Center man’s 2008 pardon became a political headache for Gov. Pawlenty this year after the man was charged with sexually assaulting a girl more than 250 times over several years.

The pardon also has Blue Earth County Commissioner Will Purvis feeling duped. He wrote a letter for 37-year-old Jeremy Allen Giefer. The letter said Giefer was a good family man who deserved a pardon for having sex with a 14-year-old girl in 1993 and getting her pregnant. Giefer was 19 years old when he was charged.

“That’s the only letter of this type that I’ve written and you can count on it that I won’t do it again,” Purvis said. “I really feel like I was deceived.

“Had the victim not been supportive of it, I wouldn’t have done it.”

. . .When Purvis wrote his letter, he knew Giefer had been investigated in 2003 for malicious punishment of a child and domestic assault. A county human services worker reported a 7-year-old boy with three abrasions on his face told her he had been hit by Giefer.

Giefer admitted to slapping the boy with an open hand. Purvis, who was a Blue Earth County sheriff’s deputy at the time, signed the criminal complaint requesting criminal charges against Giefer.

The charges were dismissed after Giefer completed a diversion program. Giefer admitted to hurting the boy and agreed to get help for anger issues. That was something Purvis said he used to justify writing the letter.

“It kind of reinforced what I was thinking,” Purvis said. “I didn’t write the letter off the top of my head. It was a very long thought process: ‘Should I or shouldn’t I.’

“I would have been more concerned had he gone to trial.”

Okay then. That justifies writing that Giefer was a good father.  Right.

Earlier this monthin a story that didn't get much play, the AP reported in Few pardoned in Pawlenty era go on to re-offend:

Except for Giefer, searches of electronic statewide court records found that no one who was pardoned in Minnesota from 2003 through this year has been charged with felonies or gross misdemeanors in Minnesota since receiving their pardons. Several have faced traffic violations such as speeding or failure to produce proof of insurance, and a handful have been charged with misdemeanor-level drunken driving. Searches of federal court dockets nationwide found no instances of any of the 116 being charged with federal crimes since their pardons, though in a few cases their names were too common to be certain. The review did not extend to any crimes charged in other states' court systems.

Perhaps the Associated Press might look at the non-statewide court records that are accessible via county courthouses.

After all, that database in the Blue Earth County Justice Center--and not the electronic statewide court records--is where I found the child abuse case and the restraining orders against Giefer that were sought by the mother of the out-of-wedlock child the model citizen sired in 2007. 

Here's hoping the AP reporter doesn't go to work for the board of pardons to see whether sex offenders who want to open home day care centers have behaved themselves; the statewide database home page clearly states:

The federal Violence Against Women Act (VAWA) also prevents us from displaying harassment and domestic abuse case types online, but these are available at the courthouse.

The relevant materials about Giefer were obtained at the courthouse but are not online.

Readers of the AP article at the LaCrosse Tribune were fairly critical of the wire service report as well.  Two people commented:

Quantum Suicide said on: December 18, 2010, 12:41 am

Yes, American, it does look like some reporter simply regurgitated a press release from Pawlenty's staff...it's easier to play parrot than to actually have to think.

Re: "Giefer was pardoned in 2008 for a crime that dated to 1994: having consensual sex with his 14-year-old girlfriend. He was 19 at the time. The two later married. The new charges against Giefer allege that he sexually abused a girl more than 250 times over several years, starting when she was 9."

Isn't one time enough for this reporter? Don't treat crime victims as a statistic!

"One death is a tragedy; one million is a statistic." -- Joseph Stalin

A Really Great American said on: December 17, 2010, 7:41 pm

Someone on Pawlenty's Staff obviously feed this reporter all the information. Shameless.

So it goes.

Comments

[Minnesota Central]

When the Blue Earth county attorney's office and a judge who reviewed the case files issued statements that they did not object to his pardon request, I presumed that they had performed the same review of the database that you suggested … they are the “frontlines” in this process … they failed …. especially County Attorney Ross Arneson.

Thanks for publishing the Purvis letter … his words connote a different message then versus now.

That said, I was surprised when I heard that Will Purvis had written a letter … being from Vernon Center, Commissioner Purvis should have had more than enough exposure to the Giefer families and businesses. And there has been no mention of State Representative Tony Cornish, the police chief in neighboring Lake Crystal and resident of nearby Good Thunder … plus Mr. Cornish has plenty of relatives that live in Vernon Center … Mr. Cornish appears to avoided this opportunity to comment on the Giefer pardon … he either has a strong view on pardons or he had heard some of the rumblings in the community, and just decided to keep out of the discussions … remember the Pardoning Board (Gov + AG + MNSC Chief Justice) submit a report to the state legislature of their findings, so State Repr. Cornish should have known this happened.

BTW, any idea if Sara Purvis Rose is any relation to Will Purvis ? The reason why I ask is that Jeremy Giefer ran an unsuccessful campaign for Vernon Center City Council in 2008 … the seat was available when Sara decided not to defend her seat (instead she lost to incumbent Mayor Robert Peterson.)
I wonder it Mr. Giefer is still on Vernon Center’s planning commission ?

[IMHO]

I think I can answer most of your questions Minnesota Central. Yes....Sara is Will's daughter. She did vacate her seat on the city council and did run an unsuccessful campaign for mayor. Her decision not to run for Council had nothing to do with Jeremy, however. It had more to do with Sara's desire to be mayor and take a spot on the Public Safety Commission, a committee assignment that she was denied the previous year. Sara has long had an interest in police related issues.

Jeremy lost his bid for City Council twice. This was his second run if I recall correctly. Bottom line: the majority of the people in this town wouldn't vote for him.

The Commission Jeremy served on is the zoning commission. It's a volunteer commission. He volunteered. I suspect, but don't know for certain, that the city is waiting to see what the judicial system finds in his case. If people want to know what the city is doing about his seat on that commission, they should contact City Hall. Obviously, he is not attending zoning commission meetings at the present time :)