BISMARCK, N.D. (AP) - A Bismarck man charged with felony sexual assault, a crime which could have sent him to prison for life, has been sentenced to six months behind bars on a lesser charge.
The felony was reduced to misdemeanor sexual assault for 23-year-old Blaine Hardy.
The victim told South Central District Judge Douglas Bahr during a sentencing hearing Thursday that she suffers emotionally on a daily basis as a result of the assault.
Assistant Burleigh County State’s Attorney Anna Argenti said the new charge “much better fit the situation.”
Defense attorney Lloyd Suhr said the facts of the case support Hardy’s guilty plea.
There was a point where the woman said no, even as “there was significant evidence of consent,” Suhr said.
Hardy must also spend a year on supervised probation. He will not have to register as a sex offender, the Bismarck Tribune reported.
Please read our comment policy before commenting.