A 30-year-old Brainerd man who posed as a police officer, forced his way into a Pequot Lakes residence and forcibly sexually assaulted a woman was sentenced to 10 years supervised probation.
Mason Vale Headlee, convicted of first-degree burglary of an occupied dwelling and third-degree criminal sexual conduct, on Sept. 11 received a stayed sentence by Judge Christopher Strandlie in Crow Wing County District Court in Brainerd. Headlee will be under supervised probation for 10 years and must follow 26 conditions of release. If Headlee violates any of the probation conditions, he may be subject to serve the full 39 months in the Minnesota Correctional Facility in St. Cloud. Headlee was given credit for the 238 days he already served in jail.
As part of the plea agreement and sentencing, three of the charges against Headlee were dismissed — first-degree criminal sexual conduct using penetration, first-degree burglary with a dangerous weapon and gross misdemeanor of impersonating a peace officer.
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Headlee must pay a $210 fine and pay restitution.
The home invasion was reported to the Pequot Lakes Police Department the night of Oct. 20, 2019, on the 3700 block of Crow Wing County Road 168 in Pequot Lakes. Police reported two men drove up to the residence, identified themselves as police officers and forced their way into the residence. Once inside, one of the men made multiple threats to the woman and then sexually assaulted her. It was later learned the men initially went to the house to assault the male homeowner, who fled the residence when the two arrived.
The other man in the incident — Jeremy Duane Haff, 39, Pequot Lakes — was charged with two felony counts of first-degree burglary with a dangerous weapon and of an occupied dwelling and gross misdemeanor of impersonating a peace officer. Haff’s case is still pending and he is scheduled to appear for a plea hearing Oct. 26.
According to the criminal complaint of the case, a woman reported she was sexually assaulted. The woman stated two men broke into the cabin she was in. Once inside, Headlee threatened, coerced and sexually assaulted her. She stated the men identified themselves as police officers and threatened to arrest her if she didn't comply. She stated she was fearful of what would happen if she didn't comply and said people have gone missing and were later found dead in the area, the complaint stated.
During the interview, the woman said she heard a truck driving up the driveway, at which time the male homeowner left. She got up, locked the door and laid back down on the couch. She heard knocking on the door and someone saying "PLPD." A short time later the door was kicked in and the two men entered asking where the man was.
The woman told the investigator she didn't think they were real police officers, but she didn't feel she had a choice and she didn't know what would happen if they took her with them, so she did what they told her to do, the complaint stated. She said something much worse could have happened had she not complied.
