Conviction upheld for Hastings man who injured infant

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

Throughout the jury trial in December 2010, Schmidt said he was innocent of the charge.

The sentence of 27 years, 18 of which must be served in prison, was also upheld. The remaining nine years must be supervised probation.

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, 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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