{"id":17063,"date":"2026-02-07T06:37:02","date_gmt":"2026-02-07T12:37:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/trfnews.i234.me\/wordpress\/?p=17063"},"modified":"2026-02-07T06:37:02","modified_gmt":"2026-02-07T12:37:02","slug":"valley-city-austin-fields-charged-in-child-sex-case","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/trfnews.i234.me\/wordpress\/valley-city-austin-fields-charged-in-child-sex-case\/","title":{"rendered":"Valley City: Austin Fields Charged in Child Sex Case"},"content":{"rendered":"

Valley City, Barnes County<\/strong> (trfnews.i234.me<\/a>) \u2014 Convicted sex offender Austin Lee Fields<\/strong> is facing a new felony charge. He is from Valley City.<\/p>\n

Fields is charged with gross sexual imposition. Court documents say the case involves a child victim.<\/p>\n

What prosecutors allege<\/h2>\n

According to the criminal complaint, the alleged abuse happened on February 2, 2026. Prosecutors say the victim was a girl younger than 10.<\/p>\n

The complaint alleges Fields sexually touched the child with his hand. Investigators have not released more details about the child.<\/p>\n

In cases involving minors, names are not released. Many case records can be limited by law or court order.<\/p>\n

\"Austin
Austin Lee Fields<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

What the charge means<\/h2>\n

North Dakota law defines gross sexual imposition in several ways. One section covers cases where a victim is younger than 15.<\/p>\n

State law allows a Class AA filing in some cases. It can apply when the victim is under 15. The suspect must be 22 or older.<\/p>\n

A Class AA felony can carry a sentence of up to life in prison without parole.<\/p>\n

Custody status<\/h2>\n

The Barnes County jail roster<\/a> listed Fields in custody on February 7. The roster showed an intake date of February 5.<\/p>\n

The roster also listed bond at $50,000. The charge was listed as gross sexual imposition, victim under 15.<\/p>\n

Jail rosters can change quickly. Bond can also change after a court hearing.<\/p>\n

How to follow the case<\/h2>\n

Readers can search the case by name on the North Dakota Courts public access site<\/a>. Search results may not show sealed filings.<\/p>\n

You can also review the North Dakota Century Code section on sex offenses<\/a>. Sentencing ranges are listed in the state penalties code<\/a>.<\/p>\n

For general public safety information, the North Dakota Sex Offender Registry<\/a> offers a statewide search tool. Use it with care.<\/p>\n

Important note<\/h2>\n

A charge is not proof of guilt. Fields is presumed innocent unless convicted in court.<\/p>\n

If you or your family needs help, contact RAINN<\/a> for support and hotline options.<\/p>\n

I\u2019m Chris Harper reporting for TRF News<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Valley City, Barnes County (trfnews.i234.me) \u2014 Convicted sex offender Austin Lee Fields is facing a new felony charge. He is from Valley City. Fields is charged with gross sexual imposition. Court documents say the case involves a child victim. What prosecutors allege According to the criminal complaint, the alleged abuse happened on February 2, 2026.… Continue reading Valley City: Austin Fields Charged in Child Sex Case<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":17065,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_wpscp_schedule_draft_date":"","_wpscp_schedule_republish_date":"","_wpscppro_advance_schedule":false,"_wpscppro_advance_schedule_date":"","_wpscppro_dont_share_socialmedia":null,"_wpscppro_custom_social_share_image":0,"_facebook_share_type":"default","_twitter_share_type":"default","_linkedin_share_type":"default","_pinterest_share_type":"default","_linkedin_share_type_page":"","_instagram_share_type":"default","_medium_share_type":"default","_threads_share_type":"default","_google_business_share_type":"default","_selected_social_profile":[],"_wpsp_enable_custom_social_template":false,"_wpsp_social_scheduling":{"enabled":false,"datetime":null,"platforms":[],"status":"template_only","dateOption":"today","timeOption":"now","customDays":"","customHours":"","customDate":"","customTime":"","schedulingType":"absolute"},"_wpsp_active_default_template":true},"categories":[12],"tags":[4096,871,770,1122,678,12619,772,4095,794,725],"class_list":["post-17063","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-crime","tag-austin","tag-case","tag-charged","tag-child","tag-city","tag-convicted-valley-city-sex-offender-charged-again","tag-crime","tag-fields","tag-sex","tag-valley","entry"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/trfnews.i234.me\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17063","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/trfnews.i234.me\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/trfnews.i234.me\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/trfnews.i234.me\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/trfnews.i234.me\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=17063"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/trfnews.i234.me\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17063\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":17073,"href":"https:\/\/trfnews.i234.me\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17063\/revisions\/17073"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/trfnews.i234.me\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/17065"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/trfnews.i234.me\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=17063"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/trfnews.i234.me\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=17063"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/trfnews.i234.me\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=17063"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}