By Josh Moniz, Mankato Free Press

WASECA — A New Richland man is facing 15 felony charges in Waseca County District Court for abusing a child for more than a decade.

Joseph Gordon Ranniger, 43, was charged Sept. 16 with seven felony counts of first-degree criminal sexual conduct and eight felony counts of second-degree criminal sexual conduct.

The victim told police the abuse and rape lasted from around 2000 or 2001 to 2011, according to the criminal complaint.

The victim told police the abuse started when the victim was about 4 years old. The victim told police the abuse steadily progressed over years from fondling to oral sex and penetration. The victim told police the frequency of the abuse would vary from year to year, sometimes occurring as often as weekly. The complaint said the only exception in the pattern of abuse was a two-year gap starting in 2004 after a move to another town. The abuse continued in later years.

The victim told police Ranniger told the victim his actions were good and that nobody would believe the victim’s story.

Ranniger allegedly admitted to the abuse and the rapes in both a covertly recorded phone call with the victim and interviews with the police.