21 March 2025
DULUTH — A Carlton County man who was charged last summer with sexually assaulting a child faces new charges against a second alleged victim in another county.
Jake Alan Gould, 32, of Beseman Township, near Wright, faces two counts of second-degree criminal sexual conduct for incidents that allegedly occurred in Duluth in 2022.
He is already facing a first-degree charge in Carlton County for an alleged assault that occurred in June 2024. The second alleged victim was referenced when that case was filed in August, but charges had not been filed at that point by the St. Louis County Attorney’s Office.
According to court documents:
Gould was living in Duluth in July 2022 when he allegedly assaulted the girl, who was then under age 13. She was known to Gould and had been visiting his residence.
The victim told authorities that Gould had previously acted inappropriately, regularly grabbing her buttocks, but his behavior “escalated to overt sexual touching.” The girl alleged that Gould reached his hand up her shirt and up her shorts.
The child did not immediately report the incidents, but did so after learning her friend had reported she was assaulted in Carlton County.
Gould was the subject of a police call June 17 when he reportedly threatened suicide after the report was made in Carlton County. He later provided a statement in which he denied touching the teen inappropriately.
Gould was released from custody after his arraignment in the Carlton County case and remains under pretrial supervision, with conditions including check-ins with a probation officer and no unsupervised visits with any minors.
An Oct. 7 trial date has been set for that matter. He was given a summons to make an initial appearance in the St. Louis County case March 31.
While charged separately in different counties, prosecutors have noted both incidents in each complaint. Court rules allow evidence of similar bad acts to be introduced at trial to prove pattern and intent.
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