Man given high-risk status after evaluation in 2013

By Trey Mewes, Austin Daily Herald

A Level 3 predatory offender from Albert Lea moved to Austin on Monday.

Austin Police Chief Brian Krueger said 63-year-old Paul Arthur Berg moved into the area of Ninth Street and Fourth Avenue Northeast.

Berg is not wanted by police at this time and has served his sentence from a 2012 arrest in Freeborn County.

He is white, 6 feet tall and weighs about 165 pounds. Berg has brown hair, blue eyes and a fair complexion.

Berg has a history of sexual misconduct with female minors, according to police reports. He was arrested in 2012 for soliciting sex from a 15-year-old he approached in public who didn’t know him. In 1992, he was arrested in Freeborn County for sexual conduct with a 4- and 5-year-old whom he knew. In 1989, he was arrested in Freeborn County for indecent exposure involving two minor victims, ages 9 and 10, who he approached in public.

He was convicted of misdemeanor disorderly conduct earlier this month after a reported verbal altercation between him and an acquaintance.

Though the police department usually holds community meetings to inform the public about predatory offenders who move into town, Krueger said Austin police won’t hold a meeting for Berg. Offender meetings aren’t mandatory and are held at the department’s discretion, Krueger said.