The Brief
Thirty-seven-year-old Tyler Schommer is charged with sexually assaulting and drugging a woman in Sherburne County.
The criminal complaint states the assault happened at a property referred to as "the compound."
Police became aware of the assault after a video was sent out in a mass text message.
(FOX 9) - A Minnesota man is accused of drugging and sexually assaulting a passed-out woman at a property known as "the compound" in Sherburne County, after a video of the assault was sent out in a mass text message, according to a criminal complaint filed last week.
Mass text exposes assault
The backstory
St. Cloud police were notified about the assault after a mass text message was sent out in June, including videos of the suspect, identified as 37-year-old Tyler Schommer, having sex with passed-out women.
Police say the videos showed Schommer having sex with two unconscious women. One video was recorded as a piece of property in Sherburne County referred to only as "the compound." Police were unable to identify the second woman or determine where that video was recorded.
Officers were later to make contact with the identified victim and her uncle – who was among the people who had received the text message.
Victim speaks with police
What they're saying
Speaking with police, the victim said she had been to "the compound" several times and, at the time, had known Schommer for about two to three months. She told police it was during a visit in March when Schommer drugged and assaulted her. On that night, the victim said she became sleepy and Schommer carried her up to his bed. She said she went to sleep fully clothed but woke up in the morning without pants or underwear and soreness in her hip.
The victim then viewed the video and confirmed she was one of the women. She also told police she never consented to having sex with Schommer.
The victim said she learned Schommer was "known to give women GHB" to put them in a deep sleep to have sex with them, the complaint alleges. The victim also claimed Schommer had choked her until she passed out, and she woke up to him trying to have sex with her.
She told police she hadn't reported the attacks because Schommer's girlfriend had threatened her. On June 9, after the videos were sent out, the victim said Schommer's girlfriend had come to a residence in Stearns County with a gun and threatened to shoot her if she told anyone about the videos.
Police also spoke with a witness who said he was there when that threat was made.
Dig deeper
Schommer is being held in Sherburne County Jail on the charges. Schommer has a lengthy criminal record, including multiple drug convictions.
In the criminal complaint, "the compound" is only described as a property off Highway 10 in Sherburne County. The criminal complaint lists Schommer's address as what appears to be a trucking business off Highway 10 in Haven Township, Minn. – between St. Cloud and Clear Lake.
The Source
This story was pulled from a criminal complaint filed last Thursday in Sherburne County.
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