Mobile home place of horror: police; Red Deer resident accused of sexually assaulting girl, 16, for two days
March 4, 2009
Sherri Zickefoose And Deborah Tetley
Calgary Herald ©
RED DEER
He is accused of dressing in a police uniform and making threats with a gun.
The 56-year-old man made his first appearance in Red Deer provincial court Tuesday morning to face half a dozen charges: impersonating a police officer, kidnapping with a firearm, aggravated sexual assault, aggravated assault and uttering death threats.
Baumgarte does not yet have a lawyer.
He will remain in custody and appears next in court Friday.
The girl was taken Thursday night. Police say they traced Red Deer activity from her cellphone.
Searchers knocking on doors in the trailer park Friday night failed to turn up any sign of the girl.
On Saturday night, the teen was released from capture and used a pay phone to call home for help.
Baumgarte was arrested Sunday afternoon while driving his blue four-door car in Red Deer.
Neighbours at the northside trailer park are left grappling with the shock of the serious allegations levelled against Baumgarte.
The single man has been living in the trailer park for about four years, according to the man who sold him the property.
Bill Burnett said Baumgarte seemed like a “reasonable”person when he toured the trailer and surrounding park.
“He told me he was living with his mother in Blackfalds and that it was time to find a place of his own,” Burnett said Tuesday.
“He was single, so his mom helped him out buying the trailer.”
Baumgarte was often seen outside working on his older-model truck and a new motorcycle.
He was also seen outside at his small barbecue flanked by two plastic green chairs.
“To hear about what happened and then to learn it might have happened here is freaky,” said one resident, who didn’t want to be named.
When contacted by the Herald, the man’s mother made no comment.
On Tuesday, the teenage victim’s family attended Baumgarte’s first court appearance, hoping to make eye contact with the accused.
“I don’t know if there’s other girls out there. You don’t go from zero to 100,” the victim’s uncle told reporters outside court.
“Maybe they will come forward and put this guy away for even longer.”
The victim and her alleged abductor did not know each other, which could have had deadly results, according to a criminologist.
“It’s rare, but once you are abducted by a stranger, it’s even more rare that you walk out alive,” said Janne Holmgren, a criminologist in Mount Royal College’s justice studies program.
“Your chances of surviving are less, you can’t count on being released.”
The girl can no longer be identified because she is the alleged victim of a sex crime.
Her horrifying ordeal began last Thursday night when she drove to a Penhold gas station to buy apple juice to soothe a sore throat.
She sent a text to her boyfriend just after making the purchase at 9:30 p. m.
The drive was a short one from her family’s home.
By 11 p. m., the teen’s father noticed his daughter had not returned but that her pickup truck was parked oddly in the family’s backyard. The headlights were still on and the truck was parked against their travel trailer.
The girl’s purse and the juice she had bought were still inside. Her cellphone and wallet were not.
