7 October 2023
DULUTH One woman’s report of a string of sexual assaults dating back more than three decades has led to a second woman coming forward with allegations against the same man.
Brian Keith Eliason, 53, of Midway Township, was charged in September with first-degree criminal sexual conduct the second time he has been arrested since May.
A criminal complaint says the second victim reached out to the St. Louis County Sheriff’s Office on May 25 after seeing a News Tribune story that was first published online one day prior. She said the article motivated her to come forward for the first time, more than 15 years after her abuse allegedly occurred.
In a formal interview a weeks later, the woman reported that Eliason sexually assaulted her when she was approximately 8 or 9 years old. Investigators said she was able to recall details such as her teacher at the time in order to narrow the timeline.
The complaint says the woman reported that Eliason first touched her breasts over her clothing and then reached into her underwear and groped her. She tried to get away, at which point Eliason followed her and attempted to continue the assault before she screamed at him and he relented, the complaint states.
Investigators said they were able to further confirm the account by speaking with the victim’s sister and a friend, both of whom she had told in the years after the assault.
Eliason was already charged in the first case with four counts of first-degree criminal sexual conduct and one count each of second- and third-degree criminal sexual conduct in the initial case.
A criminal complaint in that file states that the victim first reported the abuse to authorities in September 2021 and was able to provide significant corroborating details of various times she was inappropriately touched or raped by Eliason between the early 1990s and early 2000s.
A witness to one assault also provided an account confirming the circumstances, and St. Louis County Sheriff ‘s Office investigators conducted a surreptitious phone call in which Eliason made incriminating statements, according to the charging document.
“This day has been haunting me my whole life,” he allegedly told the victim on the recorded call.
The victim was approximately 4-15 years old at the time of the alleged assaults. She told investigators that the abuse occurred “nearly daily” at times, while other instances could be pinpointed based on certain events.
The complaint, for instance, alleges occasions when she said she was forcibly touched by Eliason around the time of a major snowstorm, a wedding and a memorable school field trip, allowing the St. Louis County Attorney’s Office to bring individual charges based on those events.
The woman also reported being raped by Eliason after he invited her and a friend to watch him compete in a local dirt track race one summer.
Eliason allegedly provided marijuana to the girls, who were approximately 10, and ended up driving them around into the early morning. He then stopped on a rural road in the Proctor area, taking the victim outside and raping her, according to the complaint.
Authorities said they subsequently spoke with the friend, who confirmed the incident, saying she was afraid and believed Eliason was engaging in inappropriate behavior, though the victim did not want to talk about it at the time.
The sheriff ‘s office last November arranged for the victim to place an undercover phone call to Eliason and confront him about the abuse.
“It started backfiring, and I started feeling bad,” he allegedly told her, stating that she was the “only one” and that he “never touched” others.
Eliason had been free after posting a $25,000 bond in late May and agreeing to abide by conditions of intensive pretrial supervision. He was briefly arrested on the new charge and again released with ongoing supervision.
The defendant is next scheduled to appear in court on Oct. 20.
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