1 September 2023
DULUTH A man has been sentenced to 12 years in prison for sexually assaulting a preteen girl and striking her mother when confronted at a Hermantown hotel.
It’s the second time Matthias Jacob Gould, who turns 23 on Sunday, has received the sentence from Judge David Johnson, as a successful appeal allowed him to withdraw his initial guilty plea.
Gould, formerly of Aurora and Duluth, twice admitted in court to the abuse, which occurred when he was 18 and the girl was just 12. He reportedly claimed they were “dating,” despite the fact that she was more than three years below the age of consent in Minnesota.
A criminal complaint states that Hermantown police were called to a hotel shortly before 11 p.m. on Feb. 9, 2019, after the girl’s mother reported she had walked into the pool area and found the 12-year-old kissing a man in the hot tub.
The woman said she had never seen the man before and confronted him about the child’s age, to which Gould reportedly replied that he “didn’t give a s—.” He then swung a backpack at the mother’s chest, knocking her phone out of her hands, according to the complaint.
When met by police, the child said she had been acquainted with Gould through her school and that they communicated over social media, making arrangements to visit the hotel. She went on to explain that they went into a bathroom together and had sex.
Gould was found walking outside a short time later and arrested. The complaint states he admitted to investigators that he went to the hotel to swim with the girl and eventually engaged in sexual acts.
Police said surveillance video also confirmed that they entered a bathroom together.
Gould in March 2020 pleaded guilty to first-degree criminal sexual conduct and fifth-degree assault forgoing any benefit from the prosecution but maintaining his right to argue for a departure from state sentencing guidelines.
Judge David Johnson denied that request, imposing the recommended 144-month prison term, and later rejected Gould’s request for a post-conviction evidentiary hearing.
However, the Minnesota Court of Appeals in August 2022 revived the case, finding the judge imposed an erroneous legal standard in considering the petition, which alleged that Gould was unable to enter an intelligent plea due to low cognitive function and ineffective assistance of counsel.
The St. Louis County Attorney’s Office subsequently agreed to allow Gould to withdraw his pleas, before he eventually re-entered the same agreement in March.
Johnson on Monday again denied Gould’s motion to depart from guidelines.
His new defense attorney, Tayler Rahm, cited Gould’s remorse, progress in sex offender treatment and support from his family.
However, court records indicate the defendant has run into issues since he was first charged, having been kicked out of programming at the Northeast Regional Corrections Center and earlier violating conditions of pretrial release by contacting minor girls.
Gould had credit for roughly three years already served, and Minnesota law allows inmates to be placed on supervised release after completing two-thirds of a prison sentence. That places Gould’s projected release date in April 2028, after which he will be subject to 10 years of supervision.
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