Neighbors: St. Paul police didn't act when told of accused kidnapper's disturbing behavior

Residents of the Ramsey Hill neighborhood in St. Paul demanded answers from police after the abduction and sexual assault of a 7-year-old girl last week.

Mark Scott Meihofer, 47, faces charges of kidnapping and criminal sexual conduct. People who live and work in the area say they alerted police multiple times to his previous suspicious behavior, and are angry that police didn't put the pieces together until it was too late.

Authorities say the girl was with her father, visiting a Dayton Avenue rental property on May 5. She ran out of the building about a minute ahead of her dad, and when he came out, she was gone. The father searched the neighborhood for about 15 minutes before calling police around 6:45 p.m.

Officers found the girl less than two hours later. According to the criminal complaint, she was on the next block, inside Meihofer's apartment, hidden under a blanket. Her hands were bound with duct tape.

At a community meeting Thursday night, Jessica Driscoll of Richfield — a friend of the girl's family — said she couldn't fathom how police did not know about Meihofer's past, including a civil commitment for mental illness following an arrest in Anoka County for allegedly soliciting sex from children.

"Placed in a mental health hospital for less than a year and not required to register as a sex offender. It's wrong," Driscoll said. "Because of a mental illness, that is not an excuse."

After seeing Meihofer's mugshot, people who live in the neighborhood around the Cathedral of St. Paul said they recognized a familiar face. Marie Cooney said he walked into her Arundel Street apartment in early March.

"My dog barked. And because my dog barked, my partner very calmly started to walk him towards the door and said, 'You don't belong here, you need to leave.' "

Cooney said her partner called 911 to report the incident later that evening, but they received no follow-up.

That was not the only call St. Paul police received about Meihofer.

Whitney Blessing, director of Cathedral Hill Montessori School, called authorities in August after seeing a bald man on his knees watching children in the park across the street.

According to the police report, the responding officer identified the man as Meihofer, went to his apartment, and told him "his behavior in the park was disturbing to some people." Blessing asked why police stopped there.

"Why, when the officer followed up with this man, met him at his apartment, obtained his name, why then was he not arrested? Why was he not investigated?"

St. Paul police say Meihofer fit the description of a man in four other suspicious person calls last year, plus a report of indecent exposure. But Interim Chief Kathy Wuorinen said officers were not able to take the him into custody.

"While the Police Department did get calls about this man, none of the calls we received rose to the level of something we could arrest for," Wuorinen said. "We wrote reports, we looked for information related to it, but we did not find it."

Meihofer was a resident of St. Christopher Place, a supportive housing facility owned by Catholic Charities in the Twin Cities.

Several people at the meeting asked Catholic Charities President Tim Marx why a man bringing a girl into the building last week didn't arouse suspicions, and why Meihofer was allowed to live there in the first place.

Marx said tenants are given a background check, but Meihofer's didn't turn up anything to disqualify him. Many residents have grandchildren, nieces, and nephews, so young visitors are not uncommon. But Marx said security is now tighter.

"What we have done specifically at St. Christopher is added staff and added security and added additional training and instructions for our staff, particularly when our tenants may be bringing younger people in," Marx said.

Meihofer is being held in the Ramsey County Jail. His next court appearance is scheduled for June 6.