Iowa Supreme Court affirms Charles City man’s rape sentence

By Bob Steenson, bsteenson@charlescitypress.com 

The Iowa Supreme Court has affirmed the sexual abuse sentence of a Charles City man convicted of raping a 14-year-old girl, overturning a divided Court of Appeals decision that had sent the case back for resentencing.

Sean David Gordon of Charles City, now age 27, pleaded guilty to third-degree sexual abuse and was sentenced in March 2017 to 10 years in prison.

The Iowa Supreme Court on Friday filed a decision letting that sentence stand.

The Iowa Court of Appeals had ruled that a psychosexual assessment used to predict the likelihood of sexual and violent re-offenses should have not been used by the judge in deciding Gordon’s sentence.

Although a presentence investigation report had recommended that Gordon receive a suspended sentence and be placed in a community-based residential facility, District Court Judge DeDra Schroeder sentenced Gordon to a term up to 10 years in prison.

According to court records, Gordon, then 23 years old, convinced a 14-year-old friend of the family to pose for nude pictures and then had sex with her in June 2016. After the girl told her mother about the incident, Gordon was arrested and charged with a Class C felony.

Iowa Code makes it a crime for any person four or more years older to have sex with a person who is 14, and Gordon pleaded guilty.

After he was sentenced to 10 years in prison, Gordon appealed the sentence, including arguing that the psychosexual assessment should not have been considered in determining sentencing, and saying that the judge had considered a charge of methamphetamine possession that he had not yet been convicted of.

The Iowa Court of Appeals agreed on a 5-4 vote that the assessments should not have been considered and vacated the sentence, returning the case to Floyd County District Court for resentencing.

The state asked the Supreme Court to review the decision, and it did so, confirming the original sentence.

The Supreme Court ruled that Gordon’s attorney had not objected to the use of the risk assessment during sentencing and therefore failed to preserve his due process claim for direct appeal.

The court also ruled that Gordon had admitted in his pre-sentencing interview that he had recently used meth and that the district court judge could take that into consideration.