Michael Frederick Schmidt guilty of infant sex assault
Michael Frederick Schmidt, the Hastings man charged with badly injuring his baby niece in a sexual assault, was found guilty yesterday in Dakota County Court.
Dakota County Sheriff's Dept. Michael Frederick Schmidt
If you successfully blocked this story from your memory, here's a quick refresher:
Schmidt was babysitting his 9-month-old niece on a Saturday night in April when something happened that sent the infant to the hospital. The injuries to the baby's anus and vagina were so severe that she required extensive surgery.
Schmidt's explanation? He was changing his niece's diaper when he snagged her with a hangnail. Doctors said the idea that such extensive damage could be explained that way was ridiculous.
Schmidt's story didn't fly with the jury, either. It took all of an hour for them to return a guilty verdict, along with a finding that the crime is bad enough to justify a sentence that would exceed the usual guidelines. That could up his prison-time to up to 30 years. A sentencing hearing is scheduled for Nov. 8.
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