Man Charged with Raping 10-Year-Old Burnsville Girl

A Richfield man has been charged with raping a 10-year-old Burnsville girl.

Terrance Trevelle Hill, 27, is charged with two counts of first-degree criminal sexual conduct, a felony with a maximum penalty of 30 years in prison and a $40,000 fine. Each charge carries a mandatory minimum penalty of 12 years in prison and a $12,000 fine.

The mother of the victim, now 12, came to the Burnsville police station on Dec. 15 and told officers that Hill had assaulted her daughter in 2010 at her home on Greenhaven Drive, according to the criminal complaint.

The mother said she had read the girl’s diary, in which she wrote that she didn’t want to be raped by Hill again. She asked her daughter about the entry, and her daughter said that while she and her mother were living in the same house with Hill in 2010, she had a nightmare one night and snuggled with Hill until she fell asleep.

The girl said she woke up to find Hill raping her. The girl told her mother that the experience was very painful and that it lasted five or 10 minutes; Hill told her the next morning not to tell anyone about it, she said.

Investigators spoke to the victim Dec. 31. The girl gave them the same account, saying she looked for her mother after the nightmare, but when she couldn’t find her, she talked to Hill, who was sleeping on the couch.

Hill told her to snuggle up beside him, and she confirmed that she had awakened to find him having sex with her.

The girl said she didn’t know what to do. She pretended to be asleep and tried to squeeze her legs together, she said, but Hill forced them apart.

She said she fell asleep afterward, and when she woke up again, Hill was asleep and her underwear was on the floor by the couch. She said she took her clothes and went upstairs, where she cried herself to sleep.

The next morning, Hill told her not to talk to anyone about the incident. She said she was afraid to tell her mother or anyone else.

Police found Hill at his Richfield apartment on Jan. 4 and arrested him on an unrelated warrant. After his arrest, he admitted that he had been staying with the victim and her mother, but said he didn’t recall raping the girl and denied touching her inappropriately.

Hill remains in the Dakota County Jail on a $100,000 bond. An omnibus hearing in his case is scheduled Jan. 22 in Dakota County District Court in Hastings.