Emotions Run High At St. Paul Child Safety Meeting
ST. PAUL, Minn. (WCCO) -- There were tense moments and tough questions Thursday night at a meeting meant to calm fears after the kidnapping and sexual assault of a little girl.
"There are so many missteps in this whole ordeal. This should have never happened!" one woman told police at the meeting.
St. Paul Police updated dozens of people at St. Paul College Thursday night. They said 47-year-old Mark Meihofer kidnapped the 7-year-old girl last week and took her to his apartment in the Cathedral Hill Neighborhood.
Neigbors told police they'd reported Meihofer a number of times for suspicious behavior, but investigators say they weren't aware of anything they could use to arrest Meihofer before last week's assault.
Police told the crowd there are no easy answers here.
"What we can do is work together and try to communicate better, and a better relationship between Catholic Charities and the police department is a start," Interim St. Paul Police Chief Kathy Wuorinen said at the meeting.
Meihofer has a history of mental illness. He lived in a building owned by Catholic Charities. The organization said tonight it has increased staffing and security.
St. Paul Police also said they haven't arrested anyone in the case of another little girl assaulted in the city's North End neighborhood. A 5-year-old girl was found bloody and partially undressed near her bus stop last Monday.
Police don't believe the cases are related.