FARGO – A convicted sex offender was charged with raping a 14-year-old girl after police say he allegedly posted status updates on Facebook that said he was engaged to the alleged victim and planned to marry her.
20-year-old, Tyler Howard Graening, now faces a series of charges including one count of Class A felony gross sexual imposition, one count of Class C felony failure to register as a sexual offender and one count of corruption of a minor, a Class A misdemeanor.
According to court documents, West Fargo police Detective Derek Cruff began investigating Graening after he failed to register as a sex offender locally having moved from Minnesota. A police report states that Cruff began tracking Graening’s Facebook page and found several posts describing the nature of his relationship with the 14-year old girl: it was complicated but they were engaged and planning to marry.
The police report states that the 14-year-old told Cruff during a police interview that she and Graening had been in a sexual relationship and that at one point she believed she was pregnant after Graening told her the condom he was using broke.
Another witness told the detective that he had been in a hotel room with the girl and Graening when they were having sex.
Graening was arrested and is in custody in the Clay County jail awaiting extradition.
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