Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz’s administration hired a migrant convicted of sexual assault to a high-ranking position in the state’s education department.
Wilson Nduri Tindi, a Kenyan national convicted of fourth-degree criminal sexual conduct in 2016, held a director position at the Minnesota Department of Education (MDE) under the Walz administration.
The Walz administration did not initially hire Tindi. He was first employed by the state in September 2018, months before Walz took office in January 2019.
In late June 2025, a claim circulated online that Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz’s administration hired a convicted felon, Wilson Tindi, to a high-ranking position in the state’s education department.
For example, a Facebook post (archived) that had been shared more than 7,500 times as of this writing read:
Tim Walz administration hired migrant convicted of s*xual assault to high ranking position in Minnesota Department of Education.
A Kenyan national, who was previously convicted of a serious sexual offense, was given a high-ranking position within the Minnesota Department of Education, which operates under the Tim Walz administration, raising questions about the state’s hiring practices and immigration enforcement.
Wilson Tindi, who serves as the Director of Internal Audit and Advisory Services, was convicted in 2016 of fourth-degree criminal sexual conduct for assaulting a woman in her home, according to court records.
The post included an AI image of Walz, Tindi’s mug shot featuring him in an orange corrections vest and screenshots of court documents.
(Facebook)
Similar posts appeared elsewhere on Facebook (archived) and on X (archived). The rumor appeared to originate from an article by Alpha News, a right-wing Minnesota media outlet, which published (archived) a story featuring the assertion on June 30, 2025.
In short, the claim contained both accurate and misleading elements. While Tindi was promoted to a director position in the Minnesota Department of Education (MDE) under the Walz administration, he was initially hired by the state for a different position before Walz took office. The timeline of these events is outlined below.
Criminal conviction confirmed
Court records confirmed that Wilson Nduri Tindi, a 42-year-old citizen of Kenya who holds U.S. permanent residency, was convicted of fourth-degree criminal sexual conduct in February 2016.
According to the plea hearing transcript, Tindi admitted to having nonconsensual sexual contact with a sleeping woman on Nov. 23, 2014,
Court documents also referenced a similar 2012 allegation that was not formally charged but was introduced as evidence of a pattern of behavior.
Tindi hired by state government before Walz’s first term
At no point during the above timeline was Tindi working for the MDE. However, according to an archived
His biography read: “Before joining MDE, Wilson served as the Chief Audit Officer at the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency (MPCA).” Therefore, given the above timeline and the information provided in his biography, he likely joined the MDE as a director at some point in 2024 or 2025 (payroll data for FY2025 had not been published as of this writing to confirm his start date).
It should be noted that t
Snopes has contacted the MDE for confirmation of the above. Nonetheless, Tindi was indeed promoted to a director position at the department under the Walz administration, but the state government initially hired him before Walz’s first term.
Background check questions remain unanswered
At the time of his initial state hiring in September 2018, Tindi was a convicted felon, still on probation and a registered predatory offender.
Court records showed that he had filed a request for discharge from probation in February 2018, which was denied in May 2018, roughly four months before he was hired as an auditor principal by the MPCA. In July 2019, while he was working for the state government, his probation officer recommended early discharge, noting that he had “successfully completed all probation conditions.” The judge granted this request in September 2019. Therefore, this shows that he was still on probation for a period of time while working at the MPCA.
How someone with this criminal history passed state background checks remained unclear.
Snopes contacted the MDE and the MPCA about their hiring processes but we have not yet received any response. We also contacted the Bureau of Criminal Apprehension (BCA) about whether either agency had ever requested or received a background check on Tindi. Jill Oliveira, a BCA spokesperson, responded via email:
Whether a background check was requested on a job applicant is private personnel data pursuant to Minnesota Statute 13.43, subdivision 4. State and federal laws determine whether a background check is required for employees based on the duties and accesses of the specific position and so we could not answer the question about whether a state and/or federal background check is required for the position in question. That information would need to come from the hiring agency.
This response highlighted the challenge in determining what screening procedures, if any, were followed during Tindi’s initial hiring and his subsequent promotions to higher positions.
Recent developments
Following media attention in late June 2025, Tindi’s biography was removed from the MDE website. The archived version was captured on internet archiving tool Wayback Machine on June 17, 2025.
(Hennepin County Sheriff’s Office)
According to Minnesota jail records (shown above), Tindi was arrested on June 7, 2025, by the Golden Valley Police Department. He was charged with four offenses, including refusing to submit to a chemical test, driving under the influence of alcohol and failing to drive in a single lane and driving while intoxicated, the latter of which he was formally charged with.
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