Kosciusko County Superior Court I Judge Duane Huffer accepted a plea agreement today after previously not accepting one in the Autumn Baldridge case.
This morning, Baldridge, 29, Milford, alongside her lawyer, John D. Barrett, pleaded guilty to sexual misconduct with a minor, a Class C felon, as a lesser included offense of sexual misconduct with a minor, a Class B felony. As per the plea agreement, the state of Indiana will drop the remaining charge of sexual misconduct with a minor, a Class B felony.
Within the plea agreement there is no limitation on the court’s authority to impose any sentence or dispositional alternative. Additionally, Baldridge must pay restitution for all charged and uncharged misconduct. The possible sentence for a Class C felony is two to eight years. The advisory sentence is four years.
At the June 12 plea hearing, Huffer was not able to accept the plea deal from Baldridge based on procedural errors. During her previous plea hearing, Huffer could not establish a factual basis for the incidents Baldridge was pleading guilty to.
At this morning’s plea hearing, Kosciusko County Prosecuting Attorney Dan Hampton informed the court the alleged misconduct ended in late August or early September 2011, not May 2011.
Huffer accepted the plea agreement and ordered that a pre-sentence investigation report be done by the county probation department.
Baldridge allegedly had sexual intercourse on multiple occasions with a 15-year-old relative at her home in Milford.
Additionally, Baldridge agreed to testify against her husband, Andrew Baldridge, at his Sept. 25 jury trial. Andrew Baldridge also allegedly had sexual encounters with the same 15-year-old relative at their home.
The next hearing in this case will be Aug. 7 at 8:30 a.m.
