ST. PAUL, Minn. – A man convicted of having sex with a teenage boy has lost in court again.

Christopher Lee Holloway, 48, was found guilty of 3rd and 4th degree criminal sexual conduct for a December 2014 incident where a Rochester woman found Holloway naked in bed with her then-14-year-old son. The boy told police he and Holloway had sex.
Holloway was sentenced in September 2016 to 15 years of supervised probation.

He appealed his conviction, claiming the Minnesota law that prevents sex crime defendants from arguing they were mistaken about their victim’s age if the defendant is more than 10 years older than the victim is unconstitutional and violated his rights to due process and equal protection.

The Minnesota Court of Appeals rejected that argument and now the Minnesota Supreme Court has affirmed that decision. On Wednesday, the Supreme Court again denied Holloway’s appeal and stated that while “an older teenager or young adult might, in good faith, mistake” someone’s age while pursuing a romantic relationship, it is appropriate to deny that defense in cases where someone is as old as Holloway and the age gap is as large as it is in his crime.