MANCHESTER — A Mason City man who received probation instead of prison for felony child endangerment is back in legal trouble after deputies nabbed him on a second-offense drunken-driving charge in Delaware County. Now, probation revocation proceedings put his suspended five-year prison sentence back in play.
Blaine Anthony Moll, 28, was arrested at approximately 10 p.m. September 12 near 315th Avenue and Voyager Road in Colesburg, Iowa, according to the Delaware County Sheriff’s Office.
Deputies announced a charge of operating while under the influence, second offense, an aggravated misdemeanor. Court records show Moll also faces first-offense marijuana possession, a serious misdemeanor, and a separate open-container violation for a driver age 21 or older.
Moll (pictured at top) was booked into jail at 10:49 p.m. September 12. A custody update dated September 13 at 4:13 p.m. listed him as out of custody after bonding out. Court records separately show a $2,000 cash or approved surety bond was set, with a surety-bond filing dated September 14.
Child-endangerment conviction brought probation
Moll was already serving probation in a Delaware County felony case when deputies arrested him.
Court records show he pleaded guilty February 19, 2025, to child endangerment causing bodily injury, a Class D felony under Iowa Code section 726.6(7). The offense occurred October 17, 2024.
Judge Stephanie Rattenborg imposed a five-year prison sentence but suspended it, placing Moll on probation for five years. A $1,025 fine was also suspended, and the court ordered him to submit DNA.
That suspended sentence allowed Moll to remain in the community under supervision. It also left a prison term hanging over him if he failed to comply with probation.
NIT has covered other cases involving defendants returning to court after child-endangerment convictions, including a Mason City woman facing new allegations and probation revocation proceedings after receiving a suspended sentence.
Revocation proceedings follow arrest
Two days after Moll’s September 12 arrest, correctional services filed a probation revocation document in his child-endangerment case.
Rattenborg entered an order September 15 titled “Order for Probation Revocation Hearing.” The docket notation schedules an initial appearance for October 12 at 9 a.m.
The docket information does not spell out the specific allegations in the revocation filing, and no ruling establishing a probation violation is listed.
The consequences could nevertheless be substantial. Under Iowa law, a judge who finds a probation violation may revoke probation and require a defendant to serve the previously imposed sentence or a lesser sentence. The court also has alternatives, including continuing probation with changed conditions or imposing certain other sanctions.
For Moll, that means the suspended five-year sentence could become a prison commitment if the court finds a violation and orders revocation. Prison is a possible outcome, not an automatic consequence of the arrest.
In another recent case, NIT reported on a woman convicted of drunken driving and child endangerment who was arrested after months wanted in a probation-revocation matter.
October court dates ahead
Moll’s new OWI and marijuana case is also moving forward. A trial information was filed September 23, and arraignment is scheduled for October 7 at 9:30 a.m.
No dispositions are listed in that case or in the separate open-container matter.
Moll is presumed innocent of the new charges unless proven guilty. His alleged probation violation remains unresolved.