St. Paul, MN (KROC-AM News) - A Rochester man has lost his bid for a reduced sentence in a sexual assault case.

40-year-old Rafael Earl Steele was charged with sexually assaulting and impregnating a teenage girl after genetic testing identified him as the father of the infant boy. The child was born at a Mayo Clinic facility in Rochester in the fall of 2022 and court documents identify the mother as a 15-year-old girl.

According to the criminal complaint against Steele, the victim was 14 years old when she became pregnant. The court document says she initially told investigators that an unidentified teenage boy was the father, but later offered police "another inconsistent hypothesis for the origin of the pregnancy."

Steele entered a guilty plea to a first-degree criminal sexual conduct charge in January of last year and was later sentenced to 12 1/2 years in prison. He was also ordered to spend another 10 years on supervised release.

READ MORE: Rochester Man Pleads Guilty to Impregnating Juvenile Girl

The Rochester man then filed an appeal with the Minnesota Court of Appeals, asking the judges to overturn his sentence. Steele argued the judge in the case abused their discretion by denying his request for a downward departure from state guidelines.

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In denying his appeal, the State Appeals Court ruled the judge properly exercised discretion and cited statements made by Steele that called into question his claims that he was amenable to probation.

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