Minnesota Board Pardons Convicted Child Sex Offender Facing Deportation, Citing Victim's Forgiveness

Minnesota's Board of Pardons voted unanimously in June to pardon Tou Lue Vang, a 42-year-old man convicted more than 20 years ago of first-degree criminal sexual conduct against a 10-year-old girl. The pardon erased the underlying conviction that had triggered his 2006 deportation order to Laos.

The three-member board that made the call includes Gov. Tim Walz, Attorney General Keith Ellison and Minnesota Supreme Court Chief Justice Natalie Hudson, according to FOX 9. Minnesota's process runs through a nine-member Clemency Review Commission, which recommends cases to the board, and the commission recommended granting Vang's request.

Vang entered the U.S. in 1994 and had legal status before his conviction, according to the Department of Homeland Security. That status was revoked after his 2006 removal order. ICE deported Vang to Laos on July 10, roughly two decades after that order was first issued. Laos, which had refused to accept returning nationals during the George W. Bush administration, now does.

According to FOX 9, the board says a letter of support from the victim was the deciding factor. In that letter, the victim wrote, "What happened to me was wrong, but I have had many years to think about this. I have made my peace with it. I forgive him."

In his own clemency application, Vang wrote that "the shame and regret carry, especially as my children have grown older and learned about my past, run deep," and said he would undo what happened "without hesitation" if he could.

A spokesperson for Ellison's office told FOX 9 the board reached a "unanimous decision to grant Tou Vang this pardon after an exhaustive process which included a statement of support for the pardon from the victim, a recommendation to grant the pardon from the Clemency Review Commission, and a large number of community support letters." Minnesota officials also noted other pending pardon requests tied to sex-offense deportation cases were denied, suggesting the board did not treat immigration status as an automatic reason to grant clemency.

Victim input carries real legal and moral weight in clemency proceedings. A specific, named victim explicitly asked for forgiveness and reconciliation, a formal review commission signed off, and the board says it has denied similar requests in other cases.

The pushback

DHS did not see it that way. Acting Assistant Secretary Lauren Bis called the decision "disgusting," saying Walz chose to pardon "an illegal alien convicted child rapist so he can remain in our country," according to FOX 9.

The Ramsey County Attorney's Office, which originally prosecuted Vang, also opposed the pardon. An official there, Tami McConkey, noted Vang had already received a lenient 30-day sentence at the time of his conviction, according to the New York Times reporting cited by the Daily Signal.

The Daily Signal's Tim Graham argues the case exposes a double standard in national news coverage. He cites Media Research Center analyst Curtis Houck's tally that ABC, CBS and NBC devoted 1,627 minutes over the past year to the Jeffrey Epstein story, largely framed around Donald Trump, while, per Graham's review, none of the three broadcast networks nor PBS or NPR covered the Vang pardon on air. He found a single CNN mention, on Abby Phillip's NewsNight, when a guest raised it and Phillip redirected the conversation.

Graham also took issue with a July 17 Minnesota Star Tribune opinion column by Rochelle Olson, which offered "Cheers" to Walz for the pardon and compared it to presidential pardons issued for Jan. 6 defendants. Graham called that comparison off base, pointing out many Jan. 6 pardons went to people convicted of parading or unlawful presence in the Capitol, not sexual assault of a child.

Vang has already been removed to Laos, so the pardon's immediate practical effect on his deportation is moot. Ellison's office has acknowledged the Trump administration could still pursue further action, though no new legal filing or investigation has been announced as of this writing.

The open question is less about Vang's case specifically and more about the pardon process itself: whether a single victim's forgiveness letter should be enough to override a serious conviction when the practical effect is blocking a federal deportation order, and whether Minnesota's board applies that standard consistently across similar cases, as officials claim but have not documented publicly.