Cedar Rapids man sentenced to two years in prison for sexual exploitation of teenager

CEDAR RAPIDS — A Cedar Rapids man was sentenced Tuesday to two years in prison for sexually exploiting a 15-year-old student at Linn-Mar High School while he worked as a janitor there.

Rueben Alejandro Power, 21, was arrested on a warrant last August and charged with sexual exploitation by a school employee and sexual abuse in the third degree.

Power initially pleaded not guilty, but later accepted a plea agreement and pleaded guilty to sexual exploitation by a school employee, an aggravated misdemeanor. The third-degree sexual abuse charge, a felony, was dropped.

After the two year prison term, Power will serve a special sentence of 10 years on parole. He’ll also be on the sex offender registry for 10 years after he is released from prison.

The sexual exploitation happened April 30, 2021, according to the original arrest affidavit.

The juvenile student’s parents found Power with the student in his car on April 30, according to an application for a warrant filed in July. The teenager had run from Foundation 2 Youth Shelter on April 28 and was considered a missing person when she was found on April 30.

After she ran from Foundation 2, a man who police believe was Power arrived at the shelter and tried to pick up her things, claiming that he was her cousin, the warrant request states.

A no contact order has also been filed between Power and the juvenile, which will remain in effect until 2027.

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