Cedar Rapids man accused of sexually abusing 13-year-old

CEDAR RAPIDS — A Cedar Rapids man faces charges he sexually abused a 13-year-old girl in March, the same month he was charged with domestic abuse of his girlfriend.

Sicari Samson Strickland, 36, is charged with second-degree sexual abuse of the 13-year-old on March 9 at an apartment in Cedar Rapids.

On March 6, Strickland was accused of punching his live-in girlfriend in the face multiple times, according to a criminal complaint for domestic abuse.

On March 9, he forced his way into the apartment’s bathroom and choked his girlfriend, telling her she wasn’t going to leave him and he would kill her. The girlfriend left the apartment. When she returned, she saw Strickland having sex with a girl she knew to be 13, the search warrant request states.

She called police and Strickland was arrested and charged with multiple counts of domestic abuse and harassment. The 13-year-old was taken to UnityPoint Health-St. Luke’s Hospital but did not consent to having a rape kit completed, according to the warrant request.

Strickland pleaded guilty to the domestic abuse charges in June and was sentenced to two years of supervised probation with a suspended five-year prison sentence.

At some point while he was in the Linn County Jail, Strickland had a conversation over the phone — which an investigator later listened to — in which he discussed the sex act with the 13-year-old, according to a criminal complaint. He blamed the act on the teen taking advantage of him.

The 13-year-old also told a nurse from the Child Protection Center that the sex act took place and that it was not the first time she had had sexual contact with the Strickland.

A warrant for Strickland’s arrest on the sexual abuse charge was issued Tuesday, and he was taken into custody Wednesday. He had his first appearance in court Thursday and is being held on a $100,000 cash-only bond. A no-contact order has been filed on behalf of the 13-year-old.

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