Jury trial begins for former RPD officer and high school speech coach accused of criminal sexual conduct

ROCHESTER — The jury trial for a former Rochester Police Department officer accused of sexually assaulting a minor began Tuesday afternoon, Jan. 7 in Olmsted County District Court.

Timothy Robert Morgenstern, 24, of Apple Valley, is charged with third-degree criminal sexual conduct, fourth-degree criminal sexual conduct involving contact, and using minors in a sexual performance, all felonies.

The criminal charges, which were filed on Jan. 13, 2023, mentioned his position of authority over the alleged victim. Morgenstern was a part-time speech coach at John Marshall High School, and the then-16-year-old girl was on the speech team.

In his opening statement, Fillmore County Attorney Brett Corson, who is prosecuting this case, told the jury, consisting of nine women and four men, that the relationship between the girl and Morgenstern crossed the boundaries of being “inappropriate.”

The now-18-year-old joined the John Marshall High School speech team in February or March 2022, Corson told the jury. Morgenstern was a coach for the team.

Corson said throughout 2022, the relationship between Morgenstern and the girl became noticeably “unusual” to others.

Morgenstern’s defense attorney, Stephen Foerscht, opened his opening statement with: “Be careful what you do because the lie becomes the truth.” The state objected to the statement.

Foerscht said the girl interpreted Morgenstern’s guidance and attention as romantic, which Morgenstern attempted to halt by talking to his supervisor.

Foerscht said though the state’s witnesses will put together a timeline of the alleged events, he claims there is no evidence of the phone calls, numerous text messages and sexually explicit images sent between the two of them.

“I’m still not sure she knows what she started,” Foerscht said, which received another objection from the state.

Foerscht concluded his opening statement by saying, “He’s innocent,” which the state objected to.

Following the opening statements, Olmsted County District Judge Erin Lindhart Felten reminded observers in the gallery seated behind the defense to not smirk or behave inappropriately or she will consider them in contempt of court.

The state then called its first witness to the stand, the 18-year-old.

The alleged victim said the conversations between her and Morgenstern began after she joined the speech team during her sophomore year of high school.

After she joined the speech team in 10th grade, she said, the conversations between her and Morgenstern began as coaching. The conversations soon turned into “getting to know you” chats, she alleged.

The state displayed screenshots of text messages exchanged between Morgenstern and the girl after 1 a.m.

“I purposefully stayed up talking to Tim,” she testified.

Toward the end of February, she testified, she and Morgenstern washed dishes together while working the concession stand for a high school basketball game. One of her friends brought up Morgenstern’s behavior with her after seeing them work closely.

According to the now-18-year-old, both of them began sending sexually explicit images and videos to each other via Snapchat on June 1, 2022. She said she did not tell anyone about them.

“I knew what we had was wrong,” she testified.

After they exchanged the images and videos, the girl testified, they did not speak for nearly one month.

Morgenstern organized a speech practice at the end of June, she said. The two began talking again, and that night, Morgenstern asked her to come over, she testified.

She testified that they kissed and had sexual intercourse.

The state displayed a five-part video journal taken by the alleged victim after she returned from Morgenstern’s house. Though she was excited about what had happened, she testified, she later became “depressed and suicidal” when they stopped communicating again.

Days after the alleged incident, a friend helped the girl draft an email to Morgenstern. The subject line read, “A Conversation We Need To Have.”

In the letter that was displayed in court, she wrote that she fell in love with him, but she now hates him.

“I do think it’s your fault I feel the way I do because you’re the adult who’s involved with law enforcement and who has a relationship with God, yet that did not stop you from having sex with a sixteen year old,” the email read.

Morgenstern was an officer with RPD for about a year, RPD Crime Prevention & Communications Coordinator Amanda Grayson previously said. He was terminated on Oct. 6, 2022.

The trial will continue on Wednesday morning, Jan. 7.