Man charged with U gropings sentenced Tuesday

A Minneapolis man was sentenced to six years of probation after pleading guilty Tuesday to three counts of criminal sexual conduct in the fifth degree.
Phillips Acosta, 41, was convicted of three gross misdemeanor charges of criminal sexual conduct. Dubbed the “Gopher Groper” by the media, Acosta was accused of nine counts in total, but six were dropped.
Acosta was arrested by University of Minnesota police on Feb. 4 after allegedly molesting two female students that evening. He had no criminal history prior to these incidents, all of which happened in January and February of this year, largely near the University campus.