19-year-old pleads guilty to assaulting 14-year-old in 2012

CEDAR RAPIDS - A 19-year-old Cedar Rapids man pleaded guilty Thursday to a lesser charge in the 2012 sexual assault of a 14-year-old girl.

Chase Jeffery Edwards-Moon, 17 at the time of the incident, pleaded guilty to willful injury causing bodily injury. He originally was charged with third-degree sexual abuse.

He admitted in court to assaulting the girl in December 2012 near the tennis courts at Jefferson High School.

The girl suffered a neck injury in the assault, along with emotional pain and trauma.

First Assistant Linn County attorney Nick Maybanks said the plea was the best resolution for the case. The victim won't have to go through a trial, but a no-contact order is part of the plea. The deal also requires Edwards-Moon to attend a sex offender treatment program, Maybanks said.

Maybanks said he and the defense will ask the court to give Edwards-Moon a deferred judgment with five years' probation. Sentencing is set for Dec. 9 in Linn County District Court

According to court documents, construction workers observed the assault in 2012 and reported it to the school.

A school administrator then found Edwards-Moon and the girl in the area and directed Edwards-Moon off campus, according to the complaint. The girl later was interviewed and told police about the assault.