West Branch man gets 20 years for abusing girl

CEDAR RAPIDS - A young woman said in a victim impact statement Thursday she is haunted by memories of the sexual abuse that happened from the time she was age 6 to 12.

“I think about it every day,” the teenager said. “I want to go a full day and night without thinking about” Wallace Williams, 40, of West Branch.

The girl said her behavior changed as a result of the abuse. She was angry and had resentment, she blamed her mother and her relationship with other family members suffered. She said her arms were covered in scars because she began cutting herself.

“I think what will I tell my children some day about my scars?” she said.

The girl said she spent a year in a residential treatment program for her behavioral and emotional issues but she feels like a “survivor, not a victim.”

Williams pleaded guilty in May to third-degree sexual abuse and was sentenced Thursday in Linn County District Court to 10 years in prison. He originally was charged with second-degree sexual abuse.

Williams abused the victim in Linn County from Jan. 2001 to Dec. 31, 2003. He also pleaded guilty to third-degree sexual abuse and was sentenced to 10 years in Cedar County for abusing the same girl.

Sixth Judicial District Judge Stephen Jackson Jr. ran the Linn County sentence consecutively to the Cedar County term, so Williams will serve a total of 20 years in prison.

Williams' sister, Cindy Lukabsky, who attempted to read a letter in support of her brother earlier in the hearing before breaking down, cursed at Jackson after the hearing for running the sentences consecutively. She and other family members asked the court to run the terms concurrently.

Ahmet Gonlubol, Williams's public defender, also argued for concurrent sentences, saying if the abuse had happened in one county there would only be one charge. He also said Williams could be eligible for sex offender treatment, which is important to his rehabilitation, sooner if he only had 10 years instead of 20 to serve.

The mother of the victim in her impact statement asked the court to give him the maximum sentences because Williams took her daughter's childhood and she continues to face struggles in her adult life.

The mother said she didn't understand her daughter's problems because she didn't know about the abuse until the girl was 16. She didn't initially understand why her daughter was cutting herself and tied ropes about her neck in an attempt to stop living.

Williams said he was deeply sorry to his family and friends. He has changed his life now and had “found God,” he said.

“I never meant to hurt anyone - especially someone I cared about,” Williams said crying. “Alcohol turned me into ... someone else.”

Jackson also ordered a no-contact order for the victim for five years and required Williams to pay $500 in victim restitution and $1,000 fine.