Man Found Guilty of Molesting 9-Year-Old Girl at Grandpa's House

A 50-year-old man has been found guilty of criminal sexual conduct involving an adolescent girl. 

Eddie Joe Cintella was sentenced in Washington County District Court for the incident stemming from August 2011. 

According to the criminal complaint:

The Oakdale Police Department received a report in December 2011 from Wadena County Human Services that a 9-year-old girl had been sexually assaulted while staying in a home in Oakdale. The girl had told her teachers at school that Cintella had "touched her 'privates' and made her touch his 'privates' " while they were both staying at her grandfather's home in Oakdale.

The girl told social workers that she and her two brothers had stayed at her grandfather's house for two days in August when the molestation occurred. The girl  was sleeping on one end of the living room couch while Cintella was on the other end of the couch. Her two brothers were sleeping on the floor.

The complaint states that during the night Cintella placed the girl's hand on his genitals and then touched her inside of her pants as well as her chest under her shirt.

The girl had been pretending she was asleep during the assault and then pretended to wake up. The girl went to the bathroom and then went to sleep next to her brothers on the floor. 

In February, Cintella told investigators in an interview that he had heard the girl was having dreams about him. Cintella said he last saw the girl at Thanksgiving in 2011, but he also admitted to staying at the girl's grandfather's house when she was present. Cintella said the girl slept on the floor in her grandfather's room when he was there.

Cintella was found guilty of first degree criminal sexual conduct. He was committed to the Commissioner of Corrections for 85 months and given credit for 53 days and a 10 year conditional release period. Cintella will be registered as a predatory offender for the rest of his life. 

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