Charles City area was his victim, too

By Chris Baldus, Managing Editor

All of last week, not once did I have to write the man’s name.

I suppose I could have, but, boy, was I happy to not have to.

Then came the grumpy call on my voice mail, wondering why the Press hadn’t written anything about the farmer convicted of sexually abusing his farm hand when a competitor newspaper put out an update on how he was asking for a court-appointed attorney.

“Print all the news you should,” the caller grumbled.

I can’t disagree with him.

However, that the man — also a former Floyd County magistrate — was asking for that was not new news. We already said that. There were other bits about his finances and his self-importance, however, that we could have reported.

Someday, I suppose I will never have to print anything about the sexual predator who twice has run for local office here in Charles City. But not yet. We still have his sentencing on June 7. It’s scheduled to begin at 1:15 p.m. Anyone can attend the hearing in the third floor courtroom of the Floyd County Courthouse. Just walk on in and sit in the wooden benches.

Bring something to fan yourself with, however. Because the air-conditioning is loud in the courtroom, they tend to turn it off when the court is actually in session so the parties can hear what is said. During jury selection, when the courtroom was packed with about 80 potential jurors, it became oppressively hot. When I opened the room’s main double doors during a break, a cushion of hot and humid air rushed at me into the cooler hallway.

You might also want to bring a face mask. I picked up a nasty cold sitting in that courtroom that week. So did a TV reporter.

Getting back to the latest news about the man I don’t want to talk about anymore, the new report indicates that his farm will be liquidated, but he’s not party to that. It’s his parents’ farm, after all.

He wants to continue to be his lead attorney, and have the court-appointed attorney sit second chair. The surprise would be if he actually turned over his threatened appeal to someone else.

Should I really say “threatened” when it’s the guy’s right to an appeal?

Maybe not. It’s more like threatening to keep himself in our lives just a little bit longer.

It’s tough to pry an abuser from a victim’s life. Abusers are manipulative and charismatic to the degree that even those closest to his victim can’t believe he’s done anything wrong.

This former magistrate, former licensed attorney, contrarian local political activist has plagued and manipulated this community for far too long. I’ve watched his antics for only three years and it’s been terrible watching public servants have to acquiesce to him. To put up with his pontifications at school board meetings and — this is kind of ironic — jail committee meetings. Few stood up to him, I suppose because he was too good at riling up people against local governmental officials. Why kick at that bee’s nest?

He has hurt this community’s progress and reputation across the state. Charles City has been his victim. And while it’s tempting to bury this chapter, we should never forget what he’s done.

It’s coming to an end, soon. We can move on without Doug Lindaman.

Reach Chris Baldus at cbaldus@charlescitypress.com