Owner of dog training firm charged with sexual assault
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A local man who trains dogs to assist disabled people has been charged with sexually assaulting one of his teenage volunteers. Kelly A. Baier, 48, of 216 Beachwood Drive was charged on Monday in Hall County Court with first-degree sexual assault on a child for incidents that occurred between Dec. 1 and Dec. 9, 2001, and distribution of marijuana for incidents that occurred between Dec. 1, 2001, and Dec. 1, 2004. Baier is a certified dog trainer and chief executive officer of People and Animals Working in Sync, a nonprofit organization that trains dogs to assist disabled people. Children ranging in age from 8 to 14 volunteered to help train the dogs, Baier said in 2001. Some assisted him in order to complete community service hours. In court on Monday, Deputy Hall County Attorney Sarah Carstensen said Baier had a number of sexual contacts with the girl when she was under age 16, and he gave her marijuana a number of times during a three-year period. Carstensen requested, and was granted, a 10 percent of $100,000 bond. Hall County Judge David Bush also ordered Baier not to have any contact with the girl in this case. According to the probable cause arrest statement in Baier’s court records, law enforcement requested a “very high bond or no bond,” and the “suspect has admitted to the allegations.” Baier’s organization was previously located in the former Dowd’s Steakhouse in Alda. The address listed in the phone book for People and Animals Working in Sync is the same as Baier’s. According to Hall County Jail records, Baier was arrested just before noon Friday at his home for 10 counts of first-degree sexual assault, 10 counts of sexual assault on a child and 10 counts of distributing marijuana. Hall County Attorney Mark Young wasn’t available on Monday to comment on the difference between what Baier was arrested for and the charges that were filed against him. Hall County sheriff’s Capt. Jim Castleberry said all the reported incidents involve the same person, and the assaults began when she was 13 years old. She is now 18, he said. He wouldn’t comment on the date of the most recent contact. The incidents were initially reported to the Grand Island Police Department after the girl made statements to a third party. The case was transferred to the Sheriff’s Department because the contacts took place both in and outside Grand Island, Castleberry said. The investigation is ongoing, and Castleberry expects to work with other agencies outside Hall County, as both the sexual contact and the drug distribution may have occurred in multiple jurisdictions, he said. Baier’s preliminary hearing is scheduled for 10 a.m. April 3. If convicted, he faces up to 50 years in prison for each count. More : theindependent.com |