A Des Moines man charged with sexually abusing a child will not stand trial after a court found he is not and will not be able to understand and take part in proceedings.
Prosecutors moved Friday to dismiss charges against Frank Maier, 60, who had faced four separate counts of second-degree sexual abuse. The county instead is seeking to have him civilly committed to a state institution.
According to court filings, Maier s attorney requested he be evaluated for mental competency shortly after he was charged in May 2020, telling the court Maier was a poor historian who showed little ability to assist in his own defense. He was evaluated by three experts who gave differing opinions on Maier s competence to stand trial, but Judge Sandra Crane found most persuasive the findings of a state physician who reported that Maier demonstrated severe short- and long-term memory issues, struggling to retain basic details of a story or even to consistently identify his own age.