Apr. 8—BEMIDJI — Jeffrey Booge, 46, of Solway, has been sentenced for two counts of second-degree criminal sexual conduct for assaulting his girlfriend’s daughter.

On April 2, Booge was sentenced to 45 days at the Beltrami County Jail with two days of credit for time served, starting April 12. He was also sentenced to 36 months and 48 months for the two counts, which will be served concurrently at the Minnesota Correctional Facility in St. Cloud, followed by 15 years of supervised probation.

The sentencing comes after Booge

pled guilty in January

to both counts after assaulting his girlfriend’s young daughter in January 2019 and August 2023.

According to the criminal complaint, on Aug. 30, 2023, the Beltrami County Sheriff’s Office received a report from a 9-year-old girl’s mother that her child told her she was being touched inappropriately by Booge, the mother’s live-in boyfriend.

Law enforcement learned that the victim’s grandmother had confronted Booge about the allegations and Booge apologized and claimed he thought the girl was her mother — his girlfriend — during the incident.

The complaint also detailed an incident that occurred in January 2019 when the victim reported to her father that her “private area was hurting.” She told her father that Booge had been taking baths with her and touching her inappropriately.

Booge was arrested at a Bemidji residence on Sept. 5, 2023, and was initially charged with two counts of first-degree criminal sexual conduct and one count of second-degree criminal sexual conduct. The charges were later amended to be two charges of second-degree criminal sexual conduct.

During the investigation, deputies learned that Booge was briefly employed as a girls volleyball coach at Bemidji Middle School.

“Jeffrey Booge was hired as a middle school volleyball coach effective Aug. 22, 2023,” Bemidji Area Schools Superintendent Jeremy Olson said in a statement. “He notified Andra Vaugh, middle school dean of students/athletic director, of his resignation from that position on Sept. 3, 2023.”

Booge had no documented criminal history in Minnesota before the September 2023 charges.