FARGO -- A Fargo man accused of raping a woman who was five months’ pregnant and beating her hard enough to break bones in her face, foot and possibly pelvis has been sentenced to five years in prison.
Ayub Haji Abukar pleaded guilty Monday in Cass County District Court to a single count of Class C felony aggravated assault in connection with the March 10 incident at the Fargo High Rise.
Court documents say she told police Abukar forced her to have sex and beat her with a flashlight.
She couldn’t be x-rayed because of the fetus, court documents say.
Abuka, 34, was originally charged with a Class AA felony gross sexual imposition charge, and a second Class C aggravated assault and a misdemeanor B simple assault.
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Cass County prosecutor Leah Viste said there was no plea deal. She said the felony rape charge was dismissed because of unsubstantiated information her office received that the victim have consented to sex in exchange for money.
“There may have been a transaction that occurred,” said Viste, adding that her office couldn’t verify the report. “You can’t prove that somebody was forced into sex if they consented to it because they were paid. …That does not make what he did in the aftermath acceptable.”
Abukar’s attorney asked for a three-year sentence, but a Cass County judge sentenced Abukar to five years behind bars, the maximum for a Class C felony.
Abukar was released from jail one week before the assault after being incarcerated on an unrelated assault in which he got onto a stranger’s party bus and stabbed a guest on board.
