A former University of Minnesota Student allegedly raped two women at a fraternity and an off-campus apartment on back-to-back weeks last year.
Daniel Drill-Mellum, 22, of Waconia was charged with five first, second or third-degree felony counts of criminal sexual conduct in Hennepin County District Court on Christmas Eve.
In one of the alleged rapes, the victim was left with bite marks and other injuries. The other victim suffered from anxiety and panic attacks as a result of the alleged assault, according to the criminal complaint.
Drill-Mellum, who was living outside of the U.S., was arrested when his flight arrived at the Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport on Christmas Eve, according to a press release from the Hennepin County Attorney’s Office.
Drill-Mellum attended the University from the fall of 2012 through the fall of 2014, where he was enrolled in the Carlson School of Management. His father, Richard Drill-Mellum is a lecturer at the University.
For an incident that occurred on the same day the second rape allegedly occurred, Drill-Mellum was suspended from the University for 10 years and banned from campus for five years after he was found responsible for sexual assault, according to documents obtained by the Daily through a public records request.
In the first alleged rape, Drill-Mellum met the 18-year-old female victim at a Halloween party in 2014 at the Sigma Phi Epsilon fraternity, according to the criminal complaint.
They eventually began to kiss away from others at the party in a laundry room, but the victim objected when Drill-Mellum tried to put his hand up her shirt and pull down her underwear, the complaint read.
Despite being told to stop, Drill Mellum slammed the woman’s head against a wall and forced the victim to perform oral sex on him. Afterwards, he forced her to the ground and raped her, where he repeatedly told the victim “I know you want this” and “you’re so turned on right now,” according to the complaint.
The victim reported the assault to the University of Minnesota Medical Center the next day, but initially declined to report to police. Last month she reported the alleged assualt to University police after learning Drill-Mellum was “trespassed” from the University for the sexual assault of another female and was seen at a party, according to the complaint.
In the second alleged rape, the victim met Drill-Mellum at a party on Nov. 8 2014. He asked her to go to his off-campus apartment to get alcohol, the complaint read.
Once inside, the two began to kiss before Drill-Mellum tried to take her clothes off. The victim told him “no” and said she wanted to go back to the party, according to the court documents.
To try and convince Drill-Mellum to let her return to the party, she performed oral sex on him, but afterwards he held her down on his bed and raped her and told the victim that she “would like it” while she cried and pleaded for Drill-Mellum to stop, the criminal complaint read.
After talking to police, the victim was taken by ambulance to Hennepin County Medical Center, where a sexual assault exam noted — among others — abrasions and lacerations on her chin, thigh, hip, knee, nipples, according to the charges.
Drill-Mellum lives in Australia, where he is a marketing intern for a hotel, according to his LinkedIn profile. The profile also listed past internships with Gov. Mark Dayton’s office and Sen. Al Franken’s, D-Minn. office.
Drill-Mellum was also a member of the Minnesota Student Association when he was a student and worked to pass state legislation to provide legal immunity for underage drinkers who seek medical care.
He is also a former President of Minnesota DECA, which helps prepare students for careers in marketing, finance, hospitality and management.
Drill-Mellum’s attorney couldn’t be reached for comment. He was scheduled to appear in court Monday afternoon and remained in Hennepin County jail as of Monday evening.
