Mandan man charged with sexual assault while out on bail

Clayton Fischer, 22, is in custody at the Burleigh Morton Detention Center after being charged with sexual assault with violence on Monday.

The charge carries a maximum sentence of life in prison. A judge set his bail at $10,000 on Monday.

The latest charges against Fischer were filed after Mandan police received a report of an underage girl at CHI St. Alexius Health Hospital in Bismarck who was scheduled to undergo a sexual assault evaluation, an affidavit states.

The girl told police that on June 15 at around 11 p.m. she was picked up from her home in Mandan by Fischer and two other people, a man and a woman, in his pickup truck.

The girl said the group drove to an area near the juvenile correctional center, where Fischer pressured her to have sex with him, the affidavit states. The girl told Fischer to stop more than 10 times, but Fischer pushed her down and grabbed her by the neck once while continuing the alleged assault, police said. They added the two people in his vehicle allegedly witnessed the assault.

The girl finally asked Fischer to take her back home, which he allegedly did.

On June 16, the girl contacted a social worker with the Three Rivers Human Services Zone, who came to the girl’s home and learned that she had not showered and that Fischer had bitten her on her arms and legs during the alleged assault, the affidavit states.

In the hospital, the girl suffered bruises consistent with bites and strangulation injuries. All of these injuries were photographed, the affidavit states.

The girl positively identified Fischer as her attacker from a photo lineup, the affidavit said. She also identified his truck, police said.

After Fischer was identified as a suspect, Mandan police contacted him twice. On June 22, police contacted Fischer at his residence and later took him to the Mandan Police Department for DNA testing, the affidavit states. His pickup truck was also towed to police headquarters for testing. During a second contact on July 5, Fischer told police he had a court-appointed attorney and would not speak to them without that attorney present, the affidavit states.

That attorney, identified in court documents as Brooke Chilla of the public defender’s office, is representing Fischer in connection with the March incident in which he is accused of pointing a handgun at a group of people in the parking lot of the Baymont Inn in Mandan.

According to an affidavit in the case, during an unspecified argument that occurred sometime after 2 a.m. on March 24, Fischer made threats and expressed his willingness to shoot at people in the parking lot.

He has pleaded not guilty to one count of terrorizing with a dangerous weapon, court records show. If convicted in that case, he faces a maximum of five years in prison and a $10,000 fine. Because a firearm was involved, if convicted, he faces a minimum sentence of two years in prison without the possibility of parole. The trial in that case is scheduled to begin Sept. 24.

Fischer’s next appearance in connection with the sexual assault case is scheduled for a preliminary hearing on August 12. Court records do not yet indicate that he has an attorney.