The Cottage Grove Police Department will be holding a community notification meeting for residents to learn more about a level 3 predatory offender known to frequent areas near the 7800 block of Hemingway Avenue South.

The Cottage Grove Police Department is releasing information regarding 36-yearold Donnie Ray Reece, in accordance with Minnesota State Statues 244.052 and 244.253D.

The community notification meeting will be held at 7:30 p.m. Thursday, April 7 at the Park High School auditorium, 8040 80th Street South, in Cottage Grove. Representatives from the Cottage Grove Police Department, the Department of Corrections, the Washington County Attorney’s Office, and the Jacob Wetterling Resource Center will be available to provide general information about predatory offender registration, public safety, and to address questions from those in attendance.

“We understand that receiving this notice may be disturbing to the public. It is not our intention to increase fear in the community,” Police Chief Pete Koerner said. “We want to raise the public’s awareness and provide useful public safety information regarding predatory offenders.”

For those unable to attend the community notification meeting or who otherwise didn’t receive notice in time, these are the relevant details to know about Reece and state law related to criminal sexual conduct in general.

Donnie Ray Reece, age 36, is a five-foot eight-inch man with brown eyes and black hair who weighs 159 pounds. Reece was convicted in 2004 of engaging in sexual contact with a known female child, including sexual touching and penetration, with force being used to gain compliance.

Released as of August 27, 2011 after serving the court-imposed sentence, he is required to register with law enforcement but has no supervision agent as of the present.

Minnesota state law classifies criminal sexual conduct into five categories, with level 1 the most severe and level 5 the least severe. Levels 1 through 4 are felony-level, while level 5 is considered a gross misdemeanor in state law. “Gross” in this context means “serious.”

Once again, a community notification meeting will be held at Park High School on Thursday April 7 at 7:30 p.m.

Donnie Ray Reece