Predatory offender released from civil commitment moved to Rochester

Post-Bulletin, Rochester, Minn.
·1 min read

Feb. 28—A man who was civilly committed as a predatory offender has been released from commitment and moved to the 2100 block of Campus Drive Southeast late last week, according to the police department.

Benjamin James Alverson, 45, a risk level 1 predatory offender, transitioned on Feb. 26 from the Minnesota Sex Offender Program to Southeast Rochester.

Alverson is described as a white male, 5 feet 10 inches tall, weighing 155 pounds, with hazel eyes and brown hair.

"In his early 20's, Benjamin Alverson engaged in separate acts of sexual contact against two known, teen-aged females, according to the police department. "Alverson gained and maintained access to the victims through the use of attention and affection. He maintained control through manipulation of the victims' naiveite."

A virtual community notification and education meeting is scheduled Tuesday, March 2, at 3:30 p.m. Representatives from MSOP and the Department of Corrections (DOC) will be presenting at the meeting and will be available for questions along with Rochester police Lt. Tom Faudskar and Olmsted County Attorney Mark Ostrem.

Those wishing to attend can do so through this link or by calling to listen to the presentation at 1-347-352-4853, conference ID 265 656 096#.

Recommended Stories

  • Carer arrested while calmly listening to classical music hours after trying to murder disabled woman with pillow

    Police bodycam footage shows carer Barry Riley, 62, casually listening to classical music as he is arrested hours after trying to kill an elderly disabled woman by smothering her with a pillow.

  • South Carolina Woman's Apartment Infested With Bats

    A woman in Columbia, South Carolina, has been forced to leave her apartment because of a bat infestation.Dionne Wilks said she first noticed bats inside her apartment on February 2. Speaking to Storyful, she said she thought “nothing of it” at the time as she had left her windows open overnight.When she spotted more bats in her apartment on February 8 and February 10, she knew there was a problem.Wilks said she contacted the apartment building management and submitted a maintenance request for help, but it took them several days to send someone.Wilks said a doctor advised her and her son to get a post-exposure rabies vaccine and that she’d had to stay in hotels while the problem was addressed.The apartment management company told WIS News 10 they were aware of the problem and working to fix it. They said they expected the bats to be gone by Friday, February 26.Wilks told Storyful she’d been told she could move back in on Monday, March 1. However, she said: “I do not want to stay there. It’s bat guano all over that apartment.”A GoFundMe page for Wicks and her son has raised over $1,700 at the time of writing. Credit: Dionne Wilks via Storyful

  • COVID curbs dampen carousing on Jewish costume festival Purim

    COVID-19 curbs have curtailed celebrations of the Jewish costume festival of Purim, with Israeli police preventing parties and some rabbis urging people not to drink too much so social distancing is maintained. Drawn from the biblical Book of Esther's account of how the Jews were spared genocide in ancient Persia, Purim is commemorated with the wearing of all kinds of fancy dress costumes, donating food for feasts - and drinking to excess. But this year, Israel, which began emerging from its third national lockdown on Feb. 21, reimposed night curfews for the long Purim weekend and limited access to Jerusalem.

  • Dozens of Hong Kong pro-democracy dissidents charged with security crimes

    Dozens of Hong Kong dissidents were charged with subversion on Sunday in the largest use yet of Beijing's sweeping new national security law, as authorities seek to cripple the finance hub's democracy movement. Police arrested 55 of the city's best-known pro-democracy campaigners in a series of dawn raids last month. On Sunday, 47 were charged with one count each of "conspiracy to commit subversion" - one of the new national security crimes - with police saying the group would appear in court on Monday morning. Democracy supporters described the move as a body blow. "Every prominent voice of the pro-democracy movement in Hong Kong now is either jailed, in exile, or charged for subversion of state power," activist Sophie Mak wrote on Twitter. The European Union's office in Hong Kong said the charges were of "great concern". "The nature of these charges makes clear that legitimate political pluralism will no longer be tolerated in Hong Kong," the office added. Beijing is battling to stamp out dissent in semi-autonomous Hong Kong after swathes of the population hit the streets in 2019 in huge and sometimes violent democracy protests. The broadly worded security law, imposed on the city last June, criminalises any act deemed to be subversion, secession, terrorism or collusion with foreign forces. Those charged are routinely denied bail until trial and face up to life in prison if convicted. The activists charged on Sunday represent a broad cross-section of Hong Kong's opposition, from veteran former pro-democracy lawmakers to academics, lawyers, social workers and a host of youth activists. Joshua Wong, one of the city's most recognisable pro-democracy figures, was among those charged, visited by police inside prison where he is currently serving a sentence for organising protests in 2019. John Clancey, an American lawyer and long-time Hong Kong resident who was with the initial group arrested, was one of the few not charged on Sunday.

  • More than 20 million in Britain get first COVID-19 vaccine dose

    More than 20 million people across the United Kingdom have now received their first COVID-19 vaccine shot, data showed on Sunday as the country made more progress with Europe's fastest vaccination programme. Britain has suffered the highest COVID-19 death toll in Europe - it currently stands at 122,849 - and the heaviest economic shock among big rich countries, according to the headline measures of official data. But the pace of its vaccination roll-out has raised the prospect of a gradual lifting of its current lockdown restrictions between now and the end of June.

  • Biden restores key climate policy tool slashed by Trump

    The important number helps form a wide range of policies regulating industry and energy production.

  • Police discovered 80 illegally imported alligator heads during a house search in England

    Authorities conducted a search warrant after receiving a tip that the alligator heads were being sold on eBay for profit.

  • J&J's COVID-19 shot gets CDC panel backing; vaccine near shipping

    A U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention advisory panel voted unanimously on Sunday to recommend Johnson & Johnson's COVID-19 shot for widespread use, a final clearance for the vaccine a day after it was authorized by U.S. regulators. The Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) voted 12-0 to recommend the vaccine from J&J as appropriate for Americans 18 and older. State and local public health authorities will use Food and Drug Administration and CDC guidance as they administer the first 4 million doses.

  • An 8th grader wouldn't take off his hat. Instead of sending him home, the principal helped fix his haircut.

    An Indianapolis 8th grader was sent to the principal's office for refusing to take off his hat. Instead of a reprimand, he got a haircut.

  • Lawmaker breaks down confronting Ercot officials over death of boy in Texas freeze

    CEO of energy supplier said ‘I don’t believe I would’ do anything differently, despite deaths

  • Norway's capital tightens lockdown to fight faster virus spread

    Norway's capital Oslo will tighten lockdown measures to combat a sharp rise in coronavirus infections linked to a more contagious variant, the city's governing mayor said on Sunday. The variant, which was first identified in Britain, started spreading in Oslo in January and now accounts for 50-70% of infections, the Norwegian Institute of Public Health (FHI) said on Saturday. On Friday, Oslo registered a daily record of 245 new coronavirus infections.

  • This top-rated Eureka vacuum packs a powerful punch—and it's just over $100

    This Eureka vacuum sucked up just as much dirt as our favorite Roomba in testing—and it's $86 off right now.

  • Latin America’s political elite jumped the vaccine line. ‘The masses won’t forget’ when they vote.

    Latin Americans were already angry at how their leaders have mismanaged efforts to fight the pandemic. Now, a series of scandals dubbed “vaccinegate” in which politicians have jumped the shot line has sparked fury that will likely drive voter sentiment as a new electoral cycle starts in the region this year.

  • How a daring raid by Norwegian commandos kept the Nazis from building a nuclear bomb

    The Norwegian commandos who set out on Operation Gunnerside knew what their objective was but not what was at stake.

  • Exclusive: Biden in no rush to lift Venezuela sanctions, seeks 'serious steps' by Maduro

    President Joe Biden’s administration is in “no rush” to lift U.S. sanctions on Venezuela but would consider easing them if President Nicolas Maduro takes confidence-building steps showing he is ready to negotiate seriously with the opposition, a White House official told Reuters. Signaling that the new U.S. president may be unlikely to loosen the screws on Venezuela anytime soon, the official emphasized that existing sanctions have enough special provisions to allow for humanitarian aid shipments to help Venezuelans cope with economic hardships and the COVID-19 pandemic. This suggests that for now Biden is prepared to stick with the specific sanctions, including crippling oil-sector penalties, imposed by former President Donald Trump on the OPEC nation, despite the failure to force Maduro from power.

  • Energy company to breed endangered California condors to replace birds killed by turbine blades

    After being rescued from the brink of extinction, endangered California condors now face the threat of being killed by wind turbines.

  • Republican congressman appears at white nationalist conference whose founder called Capitol riot ‘awesome’

    Only elected GOP official to attend alternative far-right conference said afterwards: ‘I denounce when we talk about white racism’

  • The most memorable red carpet look from the year you were born

    Ahead of the Golden Globes on Sunday, we took a look back at the most iconic red carpet looks of the last 60 years.

  • Andrew Cuomo accused of sexual harassment by second former aide

    Former health policy adviser Charlotte Bennett says Andrew Cuomo asked her inappropriate questions about her sex life

  • 'They want to see the land before they die': Azerbaijanis eager to return to Nagorno-Karabakh

    Habib Mamadov was sanguine after being informed he would not be seeing the ruins of his childhood home on Saturday. A 42-year-old Azerbaijani public servant, Mr Mamadov had accompanied a government-organised press trip to territories retaken by Azerbaijan following the recent war with Armenian forces over the enclave of Nagorno-Karabakh. Mr Mamadov had hoped the tightly controlled group could visit Agdam, a town he last saw as a fleeing 14-year-old and which has now been entirely destroyed. Following a change of itinerary though, Mr Mamadov decided that after waiting for 27 years, another few months would not make a difference. “But for older people it’s different,” he said, standing next to an under-construction electricity substation in Fuzuli, a regained territory south of Nagorno-Karabakh. “They are waiting impatiently, they want to see the land before they die.”