Fargo man pleads guilty to two counts of child sexual abuse – InForum

FARGO. A 40-year-old Fargo man accused of sexually abusing four children between the ages of 6 and 11 in two separate cases has pleaded guilty to six counts of aggravated sexual assault.

Austin Schindler was scheduled to appear in court next week in the first case, which was filed May 8 after two boys, ages 9 and 11, told authorized reporters at the Red River Children’s Advocacy Center that Schindler sexually assaulted them several times during two years, starting from January 2022.

The older boy told law enforcement that “indecent and disgusting things” were happening at Schindler’s house. Both boys said they never told anyone what was going on because Schindler told them he would go to jail if they did and they were scared.

In October, prosecutors filed a second case against Schindler after two more victims were identified. Charging documents in the case allege the abuse of an 11-year-old girl and her 6-year-old brother between April 2021 and April 2023.

Again, the children described the abuse to workers at Red River Children’s Advocacy in May, shortly after Schindler was first accused of sexual abuse. The children said Schindler was a family friend and they sometimes stayed at his home.

Both children told officers the abuse happened multiple times, and the girl said she was 8 years old when the abuse began.

Before the sexual assault charges were filed, Schindler was convicted last March of physically assaulting a foster child in his care. An 11-year-old boy was reported to have escaped on November 5, 2023. When police found the boy later that day, he told them he did not want to return to the Schindler home, where he had been in foster care for about eight years. months “because Austin hurt him,” according to court documents. The boy had significant bruises on his arms and legs and was placed in another foster home.

Schindler served 30 days in prison for physically abusing the boy and was banned from raising children. None of the children in the sexual abuse cases are in foster care, court records show.

Schindler pleaded guilty to all charges in the two sexual assault cases during a hearing in Cass County Court on Friday. The verdict in the case is scheduled for March 3, 2025.