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Former Iowa City paraeducator sentenced to probation instead of prison
Ex-West High School worker also ordered to serve special sentence of parole for 10 years
Oct. 2, 2025 3:48 pm, Updated: Oct. 2, 2025 4:28 pm
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IOWA CITY — A judge this week sentenced a former paraeducator at Iowa City West High School who had a sexual relationship with a student to probation instead of the prison time that prosecutors had recommended.
Sixth Judicial Associate District Judge Brandon Schrock on Monday suspended the five-year prison sentence for Joel Seve Munzila, 23, for his conviction of sexual exploitation by a school employee. The judge instead ordered him to serve three years of probation.
Munzila also must serve a special sentence of parole for 10 years and comply with the requirements of the sex offender registry for at least 10 years.
Munzila, during a written plea filed in March, admitted to engaging in a pattern of sexual contact with a student from Sept. 1 through Oct. 18, 2023.
Munzila, while working as a paraeducator, would regularly ask the student to leave school during the day and meet at a predetermined location in a nearby neighborhood, according to a criminal complaint. He would then take the student to a residence in Coralville where they would have sex.
He would take her back near the school and drop her off, in an attempt to conceal his relationship with the victim, the complaint stated.
The student reported to police that this happened about five times in September and October 2023. Munzila was arrested in June 2024 and denied he ever had the student in his car. But investigators obtained surveillance video that showed him picking up the student near the school, and a Snapchat video showed the two in his car, according to evidence.
Munzila worked at West High for the first three months of the 2023-24 school year, according to a letter sent to parents by Principal Mitch Gross after Munzila’s arrest. Gross said Munzila was removed from his position after the school learned of the allegations, and the Iowa City Police Department was contacted.
Trish Mehaffey covers state and federal courts for The Gazette.
Comments: (319) 398-8318; trish.mehaffey@thegazette.com
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