Cedar Rapids man convicted in second Iowa City sexual assault

IOWA CITY — A Johnson County jury last week convicted a Cedar Rapids man — who previously was convicted of sexually assaulting an incapacitated woman — for luring another woman up to a roof of a bar in 2017 and sexually assaulting her.

Carlos Allen Hivento, 36, on Friday was found guilty of third-degree sexual abuse after a jury deliberated over an hour following two days of testimony.

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He will be sentenced April 5 to 10 years in prison. He also will be ordered to serve a special sentence of parole and to comply with requirements of the sex offender registry.

“I am thankful that the victim finally got justice and that he will be held accountable,” Johnson County Attorney Rachel Zimmermann Smith said after the verdict.

According to a criminal complaint, Hivento approached a woman outside an Iowa City bar on June 28, 2017, grabbed her by the arm and told her he wanted to show her something and mentioned fireworks. She was then led to the roof of the bar and at that point, Hivento “throttled” her, forced her to the floor and sexually assaulted her.

The woman told police she tried to use her cellphone to text for help but Hivento wouldn’t let her, according to court records. After the assault, she got Hivento’s cell number so she could try to identify him. Shortly after, Hivento sent her a text stating his name was “Karlos.”

Several months later, police had another case with similar circumstances involving a man known as “Karlos.” The phone number provided in both cases belonged to Hivento, and the calls were made from a phone that belonged to him, investigators determined.

That woman, during the sentencing of Hivento in July 2021, said she had been drinking with friends at home on Nov. 18, 2018. They then went out to the downtown bars, drinking more. Hivento found her alone outside and dragged her into a stairwell and assaulted her, recording the attack on video.

The woman said she didn’t remember much, but recalled hitting her head on something sharp. When she woke up, she didn’t know where she was but there was a bright light shining in her eyes — and she realized Hivento was recording her.

In that 2018 case, police took her to the hospital, where a rape kit was collected. Doctors found bite injuries on her body and bruises down her back from where she’d been shoved down on stairs.

A Johnson County jury convicted Hivento in July 2021 of five felony counts of third-degree sexual abuse and two counts of invasion of privacy, aggravated misdemeanors. He was sentenced to 34 years in prison.

The investigation into that woman’s assault led to three other women — one who testified against Hivento in last week’s trial — accusing Hivento of sexually assaulting them outside downtown Iowa City bars in 2017 and 2018. One of the women said she was incapacitated and that Hivento recorded the sex acts with his cellphone. Another said he gave her a drink and she blacked out, but someone else witnessed the sexual assault.

Hivento still faces two more sex abuse trials on March 19 and July 9 in Johnson County District Court.

Comments: (319) 398-8318; trish.mehaffey@thegazette.com