VIRGINIA — Former Iron Range State Rep. Jason Metsa was charged with a gross misdemeanor of providing alcohol to a minor, and will not face more serious sexual misconduct offense.

Metsa, 44, was arrested in early July and held for probable cause of criminal sexual conduct charges, but was released after a charging decision could not be reached by prosecutors.

The gross misdemeanor charge carries a maximum sentence of less than a year in prison or a $3,000 fine.

According to court documents, Metsa allegedly met an 18-year-old female on Tinder and she accepted an invitation to his Beatty Township cabin over the Fourth of July.

He picked her up in Superior, Wisconsin on July 4 and made two stops at a grocery store and to pick up a friend in Hibbing before going to the cabin.

There, the complaint states, the female took about four shots of alcohol and was a “four or five on a scale of one-to-10” in terms of intoxication. She “became tipsy, but had clarity, could talk for herself, and had rational thoughts.”

The St. Louis County Sheriff’s Office spoke to the female on July 6 and executed a search warrant on the cabin, locating alcoholic beverages.

Metsa was arrested on July 9, when investigators said he admitting to meeting the woman on Tinder, confirmed her age as 18 en route to the cabin and “offering her a shot of whiskey.”

He allegedly told investigators “pop, soda, and booze at the cabin was communal for everyone.”

According to the Duluth News Tribune:

The warrant indicates she went on to describe at least four sexual encounters that night and the following day. She reportedly said she initially “tried to push him away but he did not stop.” However, the document also notes she “permitted Metsa to continue without telling him to stop or physically resisting.”

“(She) said that Metsa had not physically forced her or held her against her will,” the warrant states, “but that at no point did she consent to sexual activity.”

Authorities also wrote that the woman could not recall specific details of the July 5 incidents because she was “significantly intoxicated.”

Deputies executed search warrants on July 6, seizing bedding and a DNA sample from Metsa. The complaint says they also noted the presence of alcohol in the cabin.

Metsa was the Minnesota House 6B Representative from 2013 to 2018, when he left state politics for an unsuccessful run at Congress.

He also served as the deputy commissioner of the Iron Range Resources and Rehabilitation until last year, and temporarily moved to the Minnesota Department of Health during the COVID-19 pandemic as a program manager for testing and vaccines. 

His next court date is scheduled for Oct. 9 in front of Judge Robert C. Friday in Virginia.