Court of Appeals upholds Hastings man’s conviction on first-degree criminal sexual conduct

The Minnesota Court of Appeals on Monday, April 9, upheld the first-degree criminal sexual conduct conviction of Michael Frederick Schmidt of Hastings. He is the man convicted of assault on a nine-month-old girl. The criminal activity occurred in April 2010.

The sentence of 27 years, 18 of which must be served in prison, was also upheld. The remaining nine years must be supervised probation. Throughout the jury trial in December 2010, Schmidt said he was innocent of the charge.

Hastings Police had charged Schmidt after the incident in which the girl had been brought to the emergency room at Regina Medical Center in Hastings. Due to the severity of the injuries, the girl was transported by ambulance to Regions Hospital in St. Paul, where her injuries were surgically repaired.

In a statement to hospital personnel and police, Schmidt said he and his wife had been babysitting the girl at their home in Hastings. He said her injuries occurred when he was changing her diaper. When she began to roll off a couch and Schmidt said he grabbed at the girl to keep her from falling. He said a hangnail caused the injuries to her body.

Medical personnel at the hospital said that the nature and extent of the jury “is highly inconsistent with Schmidt’s explanation of how it was caused.”

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