Cedar Rapids man draws 25 years for sexually abusing girl

CEDAR RAPIDS — A Cedar Rapids man was sentenced last week to up to 25 years in prison for sexually abusing a child when she was 4 or 5 years old.

Robert Allen Fisher Jr., 34, of Cedar Rapids, was charged with two counts of second-degree sexual abuse of a 4- to 5-year-old girl and a 6- to 7-year-old boy over a period of time from Jan. 1, 2013, to Dec. 31, 2014, in Hiawatha.

The children didn’t report the incidents until 2021, which isn’t unusual for child victims. At that time, the girl was 11 and the boy 13, according to a criminal complaint. Both children described during a forensic interview at UnityPoint Health-St. Luke’s Child Protection Center how Fisher sexually abused them. Neither were his children, according to court documents.

The trial had been delayed several times. Fisher waived his right to a jury trial and asked for bench — or non-jury — trial.

Sixth Judicial District Judge Justin Lightfoot, in his verdict, found Fisher not guilty of sexually abusing the boy, but found him guilty of the girl’s abuse.

Lightfoot said he found the girl’s testimony credible. She was nervous and her hands were fidgeting, which he would expect from a child that age who is being required to talk about the abuse in open court. She answered the questions in her own words and wasn’t reciting information as if it had been provided to her, he wrote.

Her credibility was “bolstered” when she refused to provide answers for things she didn’t recall, Lightfoot said. She was 4 or 5 years old at the time, so it’s “completely normal” for someone that age to remember a “traumatic event” of someone inappropriately touching her but not many other details. Her description of the abuse itself was “definitive, clear and internally consistent,” according to the verdict.

Lightfoot said there were some reasons to believe the boy also truthfully testified about sexual abuse and was consistent throughout his testimony. However, he found key differences between each child’s testimony. The boy didn’t disclose his abuse until after the girl did. The boy denied talking to the girl about her abuse and said he wasn’t present when the girl talked to an adult about it.

Lightfoot concluded he couldn’t find beyond a reasonable doubt that Fisher committed sexual abuse against the boy.

No victim impact statements were made and Fisher didn’t make a statement during sentencing last week.

“I am glad we were finally able to hold Mr. Fisher accountable,” Assistant Linn County Attorney Molly Edwards said. “Even though the judge did not have any discretion in ordering a 25-year sentence with a 70 percent mandatory minimum, I believe it was also justified based on the defendant’s repeated abuse” of the girl.

Edwards said the victim demonstrated “tremendous courage” in testifying at trial.

“I hope the resolution of the case helps in her healing process,” Edwards added.

Fisher will have to serve a mandatory 17 years of the 25-year sentence before being eligible for parole, according to Lightfoot’s sentencing order. The judge also ordered Fisher to comply with the sex offender registry requirements, once he is released from prison, for at least 10 years, and possibly up to life. Fisher must also serve a special life sentence of parole because this is a sexual offense.

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