Iowa City sex offender must remain on state registry

IOWA CITY - The name of a 44-year-old convicted sex offender out of Iowa City will remain on the state's sex offender registry after the Iowa Court of Appeals this week upheld a lower court's decision to deny his request for post-conviction relief based on claims that his attorneys were ineffective.

A Johnson County jury in 2004 convicted Peter Christian, also known as Peter Christian Glass, of third-degree sexual assault after police said he entered a woman's apartment in October 2002 and engaged her in a non-consensual sex act while she was unconscious. He was sentenced to up to 10 years in prison.

In 2007, Christian filed a motion for post-conviction relief, asserting that his trial attorneys failed to perform effectively. He already has served out his parole sentence but wants his name removed from the state registry, according to court documents.

In May 2011, a post-conviction court denied Christian's request. The appeals court denied his appeal of that lower court's decision, finding that he did not show his case had been prejudiced by ineffective counsel.