{"id":72130,"date":"2026-11-07T08:45:00","date_gmt":"2026-11-07T14:45:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/trfnews.i234.me\/wordpress\/?p=72130"},"modified":"2026-11-07T03:37:45","modified_gmt":"2026-11-07T09:37:45","slug":"grand-forks-man-convicted-of-sex-crime-faces-life","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/trfnews.i234.me\/wordpress\/grand-forks-man-convicted-of-sex-crime-faces-life\/","title":{"rendered":"Grand Forks Man Convicted of Sex Crime, Faces Life"},"content":{"rendered":"

GRAND FORKS, N.D.<\/strong> (trfnews.i234.me<\/a>) \u2014 A jury convicted Ja\u2019Haun Kardelle Stafford, 41, on Friday, Nov. 6.<\/p>\n

He was found guilty of four crimes after a five-day trial involving a child.<\/p>\n

The verdict ended a case that included earlier guilty pleas and a later change in the child’s account.<\/p>\n

Grand Forks Jury Finds Stafford Guilty<\/h2>\n

The jury convicted Stafford of Class AA felony gross sexual imposition.<\/p>\n

It also found him guilty of Class C felony child abuse and Class C felony felonious restraint.<\/p>\n

He was also convicted of a Class A misdemeanor for wearing a mask during a criminal offense.<\/p>\n

The verdict followed months of court proceedings and several changes in the case.<\/p>\n

What Court Documents Reveal<\/h2>\n

According to court documents, the child reported waking around 9:15 a.m. with Stafford on top of her.<\/p>\n

The reported incident happened on February 20, 2024.<\/p>\n

She said Stafford covered her mouth and touched her inappropriately.<\/p>\n

The child reported scratching and clawing at Stafford until he left the bedroom.<\/p>\n

Stafford later told investigators he had been acting out a scene where he pretended to be a burglar.<\/p>\n

He denied touching the child inappropriately on purpose.<\/p>\n

However, he acknowledged such contact could have happened during the encounter, according to court documents.<\/p>\n

\"Ja\u2019Haun<\/a>
Ja\u2019Haun Kardelle Stafford<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Earlier Guilty Pleas Withdrawn<\/h2>\n

Stafford entered Alford pleas on November 13, 2025.<\/p>\n

Under this type of plea, a defendant maintains innocence while acknowledging prosecutors could likely prove the charges.<\/p>\n

However, the case took another turn after the child changed parts of her earlier account.<\/p>\n

On February 13, 2026, the child sent prosecutors a letter withdrawing parts of her previous statements.<\/p>\n

She wrote that Stafford had pretended to be a burglar but had not touched her inappropriately.<\/p>\n

She also said she had exaggerated earlier claims about other conduct.<\/p>\n

Prosecutors Question Changed Statement<\/h2>\n

Prosecutors disputed the changed account in a court filing.<\/p>\n

They said Stafford had previously admitted some of those acts to law enforcement.<\/p>\n

Prosecutors also cited earlier concerns that someone might try to bribe or influence the child’s statements.<\/p>\n

Those concerns did not establish that any attempt to influence her had succeeded.<\/p>\n

On April 17, 2026, Stafford’s defense asked the court to withdraw his previous guilty pleas.<\/p>\n

Judge Jay Knudson approved that request on July 16, allowing the case to move toward trial.<\/p>\n

Stafford Faces Possible Life Sentence<\/h2>\n

Stafford is scheduled for sentencing at 2:30 p.m. Wednesday, January 6, 2027.<\/p>\n

The gross sexual imposition conviction carries a possible sentence of life in prison without parole.<\/p>\n

North Dakota law also provides a 20-year minimum for certain Class AA gross sexual imposition convictions.<\/p>\n

The law includes specific conditions and limited exceptions to mandatory sentences.<\/p>\n

Readers can review the relevant law through the North Dakota Legislative Branch<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Public case information is available through the North Dakota Court System<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The sentencing hearing will determine the punishment Stafford receives for the convictions.<\/p>\n

I’m Adrian Cole reporting for TRF News<\/a>.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Copyright 2026 TRF News. All rights reserved.<\/small><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A Grand Forks jury convicted Ja\u2019Haun Kardelle Stafford of gross sexual imposition and three other crimes. His sentencing is set for Jan. 6, 2027.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":72145,"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":false,"_wpscppro_custom_social_share_image":0,"_facebook_share_type":"","_twitter_share_type":"","_linkedin_share_type":"","_pinterest_share_type":"","_linkedin_share_type_page":"","_instagram_share_type":"","_medium_share_type":"","_threads_share_type":"","_bluesky_share_type":"","_mastodon_share_type":"","_google_business_share_type":"","_selected_social_profile":[],"_wpsp_enable_custom_social_template":false,"_wpsp_social_scheduling":{"enabled":false,"datetime":null,"platforms":[],"status":"template_only","dateOption":"","timeOption":"","customDays":"","customHours":"","customDate":"","customTime":"","schedulingType":""},"_wpsp_active_default_template":true},"categories":[12],"tags":[13594,1480,27831,23386],"trf_mt_town":[29470],"trf_mt_county":[29541],"trf_mt_topic":[29493],"trf_mt_series":[],"class_list":["post-72130","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-crime","tag-court-sentencing","tag-grand-forks","tag-jahaun-kardelle-stafford","tag-sexual-assault"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/trfnews.i234.me\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/72130","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=72130"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/trfnews.i234.me\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/72130\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":72146,"href":"https:\/\/trfnews.i234.me\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/72130\/revisions\/72146"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/trfnews.i234.me\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/72145"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/trfnews.i234.me\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=72130"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/trfnews.i234.me\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=72130"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/trfnews.i234.me\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=72130"},{"taxonomy":"trf_mt_town","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/trfnews.i234.me\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/trf_mt_town?post=72130"},{"taxonomy":"trf_mt_county","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/trfnews.i234.me\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/trf_mt_county?post=72130"},{"taxonomy":"trf_mt_topic","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/trfnews.i234.me\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/trf_mt_topic?post=72130"},{"taxonomy":"trf_mt_series","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/trfnews.i234.me\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/trf_mt_series?post=72130"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}