Beltrami County Drops Charges Against Texas Man in Child Sexual Assault Case

Beltrami County Attorney David Hanson announced Tuesday that his office is dismissing a first-degree criminal sexual conduct charge against Oscar Ernesto Luna, a 23-year-old Texas man, after DNA testing excluded every man found at a Bemidji house linked to the September 2023 sexual assault of an 11-year-old girl. Despite a medical examination confirming the girl was raped and unknown male DNA recovered from her forensic exam, none of that DNA matched samples collected from Luna or the 11 other men found at the scene.

"At this point there is no evidence, admissible in a court of law, to implicate Luna for the sexual assault of the young girl," Hanson wrote in a news release. "Therefore, based upon the lack of evidence necessary to prove this case the Beltrami County Attorney's office will be dismissing the charges against Luna. Furthermore, because of the DNA evidence excluding the other men found at the scene, there are currently no suspects to file charges against at this time."

The case began when the girl told authorities she had been violently raped by a man with facial tattoos and an eyebrow piercing who went by the nickname "Panda," along with three other men. She said she was among a group of three female victims. Bemidji Police Department investigators located a house matching her description and found 12 men inside. Luna, the only person taken into custody, matched the physical description of "Panda" the girl had provided. BPD secured DNA samples from all 12 men before making the arrest.

The Beltrami County Attorney's Office charged Luna with one count of criminal sexual conduct in the first degree based on that initial probable cause. But as the investigation progressed, witness interviews failed to corroborate the victim's account, and DNA results returned no matches to any of the 12 men tested.

Hanson acknowledged the weight of the outcome in his release. "This case involves a little girl who experienced an unthinkable trauma," he wrote. "And for the prosecution to conclude with an outcome of no charges is itself another trauma — both for the victim and for all the individuals who have put their heart and souls into this case."

He framed the dismissal as a prosecutorial obligation rather than a choice. "In the American Justice system, prosecutors have a special duty to refrain from prosecuting a charge that the prosecutor knows is not supported by probable cause," Hanson wrote. "Initially, there was sufficient probable cause to proceed with charges against Luna, but as the investigation unfolded, much of that evidence became either uncorroborated or exculpatory."

The county attorney's office was explicit that the dismissal does not mean the assault did not occur. Medical evidence confirmed the girl was sexually assaulted, and unknown male DNA was recovered during her examination. The office reiterated it has no doubt she was assaulted; the problem is that the DNA found does not belong to any man investigators have been able to identify and test.

Luna, though cleared of the sexual assault charge, is still facing separate drug prosecution and has two outstanding warrants out of Hennepin County, according to KVRR reporting.

The case drew widespread attention when Luna was arrested, given the victim's age and the alleged circumstances of the assault. Its resolution, with no suspect charged and no DNA match, has since prompted local discussion about how the investigation was handled. The Beltrami County Attorney's Office said the case will remain open and that any new evidence will be reviewed and acted upon accordingly.