MINNEAPOLIS — A Hennepin County judge ordered that a Twin Cities man be civilly committed as a "sexually dangerous person," saying he is at a "high risk of re-offending."
Alec Cook, 27, is an Edina High School graduate and former University of Wisconsin–Madison student who served time in a Wisconsin prison after pleading guilty in 2018 to sexually assaulting three women and choking and stalking two other students.
As first reported in the Star Tribune, Cook was taken into custody at the Hennepin County jail on Saturday afternoon after Hennepin County District Judge Michael Browne's order for commitment on Friday. The decision is outlined in a 250-page document.
Cook was arrested in 2016 while a student at UW-Madison. According to court documents, at least 11 women came forward with allegations ranging from sexual assault to stalking, dating back to 2014.
Cook was sentenced to three years in prison in 2018.
While at the Wisconsin Department of Corrections, Cook was discharged from sex offender treatment due to a "lack of progress and treatment motivation," according to documents. Cook told a judge he did not complete treatment in prison because he wasn't ready and was in a "defensive mode."
After his release from prison in April 2021, Cook came back to Minnesota and immediately entered Alpha Emergence Behavioral Health in Minneapolis as a residential treatment participant. Documents stated he was currently in the post-residential phase.
This past spring, a trial was held in Hennepin County to determine if Cook should be civilly committed.
In his decision filed Friday, Judge Browne said, "The court finds there is clear and convincing evidence to support the civil commitment" of Cook as a "sexually dangerous person." Judge Browne went on to say that Cook is "likely to engage in acts of harmful sexual conduct unless all of his disorders can be appropriately treated."
Judge Browne said since Cook's release, he has "progressed minimally in the sex offender programs" and that he is at a "high risk of re-offending."
Judge Browne ended his decision by saying the court finds it only appropriate for Cooke to be civilly committed to the Minnesota Sex Offender Program.
Cook is currently being held at the Hennepin County Jail. A review hearing is scheduled for the morning of Aug. 21 where the court will hear arguments on the date and time Cook will surrender to the Minnesota Commissioner of Human Services.
KARE 11 reached out to Cook's lawyer, William L.H. Lubov. His office said he was not commenting at this time.
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