Cara Aus was sentenced to five years in prison, with 18 months to serve, after pleading guilty in a case that tied drug charges and child neglect to a home daycare in Fargo. Joshua Aus also was sentenced in the same case, bringing a long-running investigation that began with an injured infant into its first major court outcome.
The case drew new attention in April 2024, when a 2-month-old infant was brought to an emergency room in Fargo with a significant arm fracture. Police later said medical professionals determined the injury was non-accidental, and the daycare's license was suspended after the initial investigation raised serious concerns. Detectives then said they found a troubling pattern of unreported injuries involving children who had attended the daycare in previous years, including a broken clavicle, nursemaid's elbow, unexplained bruising and other injuries that were never reported as required by law.
Cara Aus pleaded guilty to conspiracy to possess with intent to deliver cocaine, possession of a Schedule II controlled substance and possession of a Schedule IV controlled substance. Joshua Aus pleaded guilty to child neglect and two drug possession counts. He was sentenced to 360 days in jail, with one day to serve and the rest suspended, along with 18 months of supervised probation. Aus, meanwhile, received two years of supervised probation after serving the prison time ordered by the court.
Police said the drug case was built not just on one complaint but on digital evidence, witness interviews and physical evidence that confirmed significant drug distribution activity inside the home while the daycare was operating. Detectives said they executed multiple search warrants and uncovered ongoing narcotics activity in the same place where children were present. A man who lived with the family for nine months also alleged the couple sold large amounts of drugs out of the home and weighed out drugs while children were there.
During the raid, Cara Aus told investigators, “I don’t know what you guys think, go ahead look, you guys have this all wrong,” but police said the evidence did not match that account. In 2025, another child who had attended the daycare came forward to allege physical punishment, and police said that report added another victim’s experience to the case. The unanswered piece now is not whether the case reached court, but how much of the harm inside that home will ever be fully counted.
