A former Moorhead man and Level 3 sex offender will be committed to a secure state hospital indefinitely, under a ruling filed Wednesday.
Kenneth Eugene Andreoff, 57, will remain in the state hospital in St. Peter while doctors evaluate him.
Andreoff has been held in St. Peter since June, when a sentence that stemmed from a 2003 charge of inappropriately touching an 18-year-old woman in Clay County ended.
In the ruling, Clay County District Court Judge Galen Vaa agreed with two state-appointed experts who said at a two-day hearing in August that Andreoff is a sexually dangerous person.
The 2003 charge was his fourth conviction for a sex-related crime, Assistant Attorney General Angela Helseth said at the August hearing.
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Andreoff's attorney, Ryan Magnus of St. Peter, argued during the hearing that one of the offenses was a drug deal gone bad and not sex related. Magnus could not be reached for comment Wednesday.
Vaa's ruling agreed with the state's case for commitment, which argued that Andreoff has engaged in a course of harmful sexual conduct and that he is highly likely to offend again.
The ruling states that Andreoff has not completed sex offender treatment, lacks insight into his offenses and does not have an adequate plan to avoid offending again.
Magnus argued in August that Andreoff is a changed man who has completed treatment for substance abuse and has a supportive wife.
Within 60 days, the state must confirm the ruling in a report and recommend a treatment plan, said Assistant Attorney General Matt Frank.
"It's basically to double-check to make sure nothing has changed in those 60 days," he said.
Civil commitments are rare in Clay County and can be expensive, said County Attorney Lisa Borgen.
If a commitment hearing is held after a prison sentence is complete, the county must pay to hold the offender while the decision is pending.
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It cost Clay County about $45,000 to hold Andreoff, Borgen said. That does not include the cost of expert witnesses and the defense attorney, which the county must also pay, she said.
Though state officials and records say Andreoff has been held at the hospital inSt. Peter since his sentence was up at the end of May, Borgen said county records show him being held at Moose Lake Correction Facility in Moose Lake, Minn.
Readers can reach Forum reporter Dave Roepke at (701) 241-5535
