A Minneapolis man who admitted sexually assaulting a 12-year-old girl at a Farmington park in 2023 has been ordered to serve 25½ years in prison, closing out a cluster of cases that stretched across multiple Minnesota communities.
Joshua Daniel Philips, 25, was sentenced Friday after pleading guilty to first-degree criminal sexual conduct. The punishment is part of a broader plea agreement that resolves four separate cases and will run at the same time as other prison terms he is already serving. Prosecutors and court records say investigators recovered electronic messages that backed up the girl’s account. The hearing was held this week in local court.
According to Pioneer Press, Philips agreed to a 306-month (25½-year) term under the plea, and in return, prosecutors did not ask the judge for a sentence above state guidelines. That deal covers the Farmington assault along with three earlier cases involving alleged assaults or sexual contact with teenage girls in Cottage Grove, Wright County and Woodbury, the outlet reported…