Man convicted of criminal sexual conduct accused of kidnapping girl, woman in separate Minnesota incidents
A 28-year-old man previously convicted of criminal sexual conduct in Minnesota has been federally charged with kidnapping a 15-year-old girl in 2017 and kidnapping a woman earlier this year, according to court documents filed Thursday.
The man charged, Abdimahat Billie Mohamed, connected with the girl through Snapchat using the name "Alesto" in December 2017, according to the complaint. She offered to pay him for a ride from St. Paul to Minneapolis.
Charges said Mohamed picked up the girl in St. Paul and drove her to an area in Minneapolis that was different than where she requested. He said he "had to get something from his place," according to the complaint.
The girl became uncomfortable during the ride and told him she wanted to get out of the car, charges said. Mohamed allegedly had the child locks on the vehicle on, so she wasn't able to open the door. He parked the car and two other men entered, including one who had a revolver, according to the complaint.
The man pointed the gun at the girl's head, told her to perform a sexual act on his brother and threatened to kill her, charges said. She did as she was told.
According to court documents, the girl said the act was not consensual and that she performed it because she feared for her life and had a gun pointed to her head.
Mohamed moved from the front of the car to the back and raped the girl, the complaint said. He then dropped her off in south Minneapolis. She called the police, who later took her to the hospital.
The girl consented to a sexual assault exam, court documents said. At the time, the DNA taken during the exam didn't connect to any known sample.
Mohamed's DNA was entered into the system because of another sexual assault in September 2024, according to the complaint. The Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension issued a report connecting Mohamed to the DNA taken during the girl's exam.
In April, Mohamed pleaded guilty in Hennepin County to third-degree criminal sexual conduct in the 2017 incident, court documents said. He was sentenced in May to three years in prison, though it was stayed for five years.
He also pleaded guilty in April to fifth-degree criminal sexual conduct in the rape of a woman in May 2024, according to court documents. He was sentenced on May 21 to 14 months in prison, and the execution of it was stayed for a day. Federal prosecutors said the court made the stay of execution permanent and discharged him from probation on May 22, noting the "conviction was not a crime of violence."
Court documents said Mohamed, on Sept. 15, picked up a woman whom he had met that night. He was supposed to take her to get food and then bring her back home.
When the woman asked Mohamed to bring her home, he kept driving and said, "You are going home," according to charges. He drove around 70 miles to a hotel near the Mall of America in Bloomington, Minnesota.
The criminal complaint said Mohamed kept the woman at the hotel for nearly a week and sexually assaulted her twice. At one point during the kidnapping, she texted her sister that she was being held hostage.
The woman's sister called Bloomington police on Sept. 20 to report she was being held hostage, the complaint said. The next day, the woman jumped out of Mohamed's car and told a nearby man that she was being kidnapped.
According to court documents, the man called 911 and police responded. The woman was taken to the hospital for a sexual assault exam. The DNA taken from the exam matched Mohamed's known DNA sample.
The man is charged with one count each of kidnapping and kidnapping a minor, according to the criminal complaint filed in the U.S. District Court of Minnesota. He was also charged on Monday by the state with one count of third-degree criminal sexual conduct and kidnapping in the September 2025 incident.
A warrant for Mohamed was authorized on Thursday. He is a Somali national, according to the Department of Justice.
Hennepin County Attorney Mary Moriarty said the federal charges are a "clear attempt to politicize a sexual assault prosecution to inflict further harm on our entire Somali community."
CBS News on Thursday confirmed Immigration and Customs Enforcement operations targeting Somali immigrants are underway in the Twin Cities. The action comes after President Trump on Wednesday said, "I don't want [Somalis] in our country."
Mr. Trump in a social media post on Thanksgiving said Somali refugees are "completely taking over the once great State of Minnesota."
"This office overcame the loss of critical witnesses to secure felony convictions against Mr. Mohamed earlier this year," Moriarty said in a written statement on Friday regarding the sentences in the 2017 and 2024 incidents. "Because our case was substantially weakened, we could not get the prison sentence we wanted."
If convicted, Mohamed faced up to life in prison.
Sexual Assault Resources
- (SOS – Ramsey County)
- Sexual Violence Center (SVC – Hennepin County)
- Aurora Center (U of MN)
- 360 Communities (Dakota County)
- Hope Center (Rice County)
- Canvas Health (Washington County)
- Alexandra House (Anoka County)
General Sites for information related to sexual assault and resources throughout Minnesota:
General Sexual Assault Websites:
