ST. PAUL, Minn. – A Rochester man fails to get his conviction overturned for raping a woman and holding her captive.

Erik Walden Narveson, 45, was accused of sexually assaulting a woman in April 2015, punching her in the face after she grabbed a knife, and then tying her up in the basement and stuffing a sock in her mouth. At trial he was acquitted of 1st degree criminal sexual conduct but found guilty of 3rd degree criminal sexual conduct, 3rd degree assault, and false imprisonment.

Narveson got his assault conviction overturned in July 2018 because he was not allowed to argue self-defense at his trial but the remaining two charges were upheld. He then appealed again, arguing the criminal sexual conduct and the false imprisonment were part of the same criminal act and he should not have been prosecuted for separate crimes.

The Minnesota Court of Appeals has rejected that argument, stating that Narveson’s motives for sexually assaulting his victim were separate from his motives for imprisoning her in the basement and has upheld his sentence of 11 years and eight months in state prison.