Coralville man sentenced to 5 years for molesting child over a year

IOWA CITY — A teen and her mother told a judge last week that a Coralville man verbally abused them and molested the teen since she was 12.

When Robin Alejandro Castillo Fuentes, 38, started touching and kissing the girl in 2018, she didn’t understand why it made her uncomfortable, she said Friday during Castillo Fuentes’ sentencing. It wasn’t something she wanted and she knew it wasn’t normal.

“I started to feel gross, and I felt dirty since he was doing this to me,” the teen, now 15, said in her victim impact statement. “I was afraid.”

She didn’t tell anybody what was happening, she said. Her grades started to drop, and she said she never wanted to be around Castillo Fuentes again. Later, when she learned through a class at school that consent is important for sexual contact — that even touching requires her permission — the teen finally told her brother and two friends what was going on. They said she needed to tell her mother.

“I told my mom that Alejandro had been molesting me for a year and half,” the teen told the judge Friday. “My mom went white, and seeing her so devastated and in a state of shock broke my heart, and I felt as if I should have told her sooner.”

The mother, in her victim statement, said with “God’s strengthening” and the help of friends, her pastor and law enforcement, her family was able to get away from Castillo Fuentes. He has never accepted responsibility or seen that his actions were “vile, disgusting and wrong,” the mother said.

Instead, he made her daughter testify at trial, reliving the traumatizing experiences over and over, the mother said. Castillo Fuentes blames everyone else “because the horror of accepting the damage he has done is too much for him,” she said.

“The damage and trauma that has been done is plenty,” the mother said. “We have battled anxiety and depression, nightmares and unexpected triggers that throw our emotions into a tailspin. What our family needs now is to close this chapter. We cannot completely move on until this final step is finished. Truth and justice have prevailed.”

Castillo Fuentes was found guilty by a Johnson County jury in September of 14 charges of lascivious conduct with a minor, each a serious misdemeanor; 14 charges of indecent contact with a child, each an aggravated misdemeanor; one count of child endangerment, an aggravated misdemeanor; and assault, a simple misdemeanor.

Sixth Judicial District Judge Justin Lightfoot ran three of the sentences consecutively and concurrent with the others for a total of five years in prison. Lightfoot also ordered Castillo Fuentes to comply with the requirements of the sex offender registry and to serve 10 years of a special sentence of parole following his prison term.

As he was handcuffed and being taken out of the courtroom by Johnson County sheriff’s deputies on Friday, Castillo Fuentes cursed at the victims and made a profane hand gesture. He was then arrested and charged with contempt for violating a no- contact/protective order that was previously ordered by the court for the victims. If convicted, he faces up to 180 days in jail.

During sentencing, Lightfoot said the teen was credible and Castillo Fuentes’ testimony was not. He also noted the evidence was overwhelming.

According to court documents, Castillo Fuentes admitted to inappropriate touching and kissing the girl on multiple occasions from July 2018 through October 2019. Police said the child resisted Castillo Fuentes on multiple occasions, but in one incident he grabbed the girl’s arm, bruising it.

The girl testified that Castillo Fuentes forced or persuaded her to disrobe and other times inappropriately touched her.

Her brother and their mother also testified.

Castillo Fuentes, who was aided by an interpreter at trial, took the stand and recanted his statements to police, saying he lied when they questioned him.

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