A 74-year-old man from North Dakota will spend two years in prison for assaulting two Black girls in his neighborhood.
Although the senior citizen has pleaded guilty to the crimes against the minors, the prosecution states that he still shifts the blame to the victims.
Larry Wayne Baldner, a resident of Fargo, will be incarcerated for 24 months after attacking his neighbors’ children on September 21, 2021.
Cass County Judge Susan Bailey accepted the prosecution’s recommended sentence of two years for Baldner, who previously pleaded guilty to aggravated assault (a Class C felony) and simple assault (a misdemeanor) of an 11-year-old girl and her sister, according to the Inforum.
The sentencing hearing took place on Monday, April 3.
Prosecutor Joshua Traiser argued that the defendant allowed his emotions to override his good sense during the attack, fueled by rage, he slapped two girls and choked one.
According to a criminal complaint, Baldner, a white man, came home and found an 11-year-old Black girl and four boys playing basketball in the driveway of the duplex he shares with the girl’s family. He ordered the kids to get off the property, but they refused.
The 11-year-old girl argued that she and her friends were playing on her family’s side of the property and believed they had the right to play in the area. When she told Baldner to get out of her face, he slapped her.
The young girl went to get her older sister, and when they returned shortly afterward to confront Baldner about the slap, the man reportedly grabbed the 11-year-old by the neck and hair. With her in his grip, he lifted the girl off the ground until her sister hit him in the face. This allowed the victim to break free from Baldner’s grasp, but it did not stop his violent behavior. He redirected his attention to the sister and slapped her across the face.
According to police reports, witnesses said that throughout the altercation, the much older white man hurled racial epithets at the girls.
After the incident, the Fargo Police Department released its Third Quarter Hate Crime Report, which included the incident between Baldner and the girls.
Valley News Alive reviewed the report and stated, “The FBI and US Attorney’s Office are currently reviewing this case for prosecution under federal hate crime statutes.”
