Man Charged With Sexual Assault Of Child, 5; Mother Speaks Out

'It's Not Just Our Lives That Got Upturned'

A mother in Hibbing spoke out exclusively Wednesday to FOX 21’s Dan Hanger after authorities say a random man broke into her home and sexually assaulted her 5-year-old daughter while the family was sleeping.

“If a stranger has you, if a stranger has you, you scream, scream as loud as you can. And she did,” said Amy, who we are not naming the last name for privacy purposes.

Hibbing police identify the suspect as Travis Turk, 27, of Hibbing, and officials say this sexual assault is one of the city’s worst cases involving a child.

Meanwhile, as Dan Hanger reports, court documents reveal there may be more victims from years past.

“I saw a man holding my daughter and I didn’t know who it was,” Amy explained.

Authorities say Turk randomly targeted Amy’s home on the 100 block of East 25th Street sometime after midnight May 31.

“My five-year-old is so innocent. She’s so pretty. She didn’t deserve what happened,” Amy said.

According to court documents, Turk got drunk at his home that night – just block away on the 2400 block of 2nd Avenue West.

“He had to have put his feet up here or something and was opened and pulled himself through,” Amy explained while showing the unlocked window Turk allegedly jumped through to get inside the house.

According to the criminal complaint, Turk then entered the child’s bedroom, removed her pants and assaulted her before a scream woke the family up.

“I screamed and I yelled out at him and he dropped my daughter and he ran down the stairs,” Amy said.

Amy told FOX 21 she believes Turk was in the process of kidnapping her daughter because she found Turk walking toward the stairs in the hallway – outside the bedroom — with her daughter in his arms.

Police later arrested Turk after his live-in girlfriend turned him in, according to the criminal complaint.

Also in the complaint, the girlfriend told police Turk confessed to the crime and to sexually assaulting 15 other kids before he turned 18 – some of whom the complaint says were his cousins.

Meanwhile, Amy is thankful her daughter was not physically injured from the assault.

“She is so strong-willed. She actually says she pulled his hand away from her mouth so she could scream — because I taught her,” Amy said.

But while the physical abuse may not be seen, Amy believes the mental and emotional scars will run deep for a very longer time.

“It’s not just our lives that got upturned. Everybody else around this community’s lives has been upturned,” Amy said.
 

Amy has set up a GoFundMe account to help with moving expenses, as she says her daughter and son do not feel safe living in the current house or the city of Hibbing.  For more on that, click here.