Iowa prosecutors: Increase penalty for assault by groping

The Iowa County Attorneys Association plans to propose a measure in the next legislative session that would increase the penalty for assault by groping, which Iowa law does not consider a sexual assault but can be more “traumatic” than a simple assault.

A series of groping incidents this month on the University of Iowa campus put the issue uppermost in the county attorneys’ minds when the group’s legislative committee met Sept. 12, according to Linn County Attorney Nick Maybanks. However, Maybanks proposed the bill to the committee in August.

Maybanks said under Iowa law, “criminal groping” can be charged only as a simple assault — the same charge that applies to pushing or shoving someone. The maximum penalty is 30 days in jail. A conviction doesn’t come with treatment or probation sentencing options for the offender.

Maybanks and other prosecutors find the groping incidents concerning because they could indicate a more serious issue with the offender. But, in most cases, prosecutors can’t prove the offenses are a sex act as defined by Iowa law, Maybanks said.

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Maybanks said the need for the proposed bill was highlighted two weeks ago when the UI Police Department reported multiple groping incidents on campus involving juveniles “asking for hugs, grabbing people’s buttocks and attempting to take items from victims.”

The Gazette reported Sept. 13 the incidents happened Sept. 10 and 11 in an east-side residence hall. A UI police crime log showed two reports of fondling and another two reports of fondling involving theft between 7 and 10 p.m. on those days.

Maybanks said it’s concerning because if the suspects are only grabbing buttocks, the assaults can’t be defined as sex acts. According to Iowa Code, Chapter 708.1, a simple assault is any act intended to result in physical contact that would be insulting or offensive to another — which would seem to define those offenses.

One prosecutor on the county attorneys’ committee said officials had reports of an older man going to a local skating rink and groping teens, but those offenses also can’t be charged as a sexual abuse.

Maybanks said another concern for him is when a 14- or 15-year-old is groped by an adult who is not in a position of power — like, for example, a teacher would be — the crime still is chargeable only as a simple assault.

Sexual abuse charge requires more

In Iowa, a sexual abuse charge requires more than groping or fondling, Johnson County Attorney Rachel Zimmermann Smith said. It requires a “sex act” specifically defined in Iowa Code 702.17.

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Zimmermann Smith said she didn’t have any details on the UI reports, so couldn’t comment on whether those offenses involved more than groping.

UI police previously said they have identified suspects in the groping incidents but as of last week haven’t made any arrests. The investigation is ongoing.

Proposed new law

The proposed bill would add a new law of “assault by criminal groping” which is defined as forced or unwanted touching of another person’s “intimate body parts,” without the intent to commit sexual abuse, according to the bill draft.

Intimate body parts include the clothed or unclothed inner thigh, groin, buttock and breast, the draft states.

A first offense of assault by criminal groping would be punishable as a serious misdemeanor. A second offense would be an aggravated misdemeanor, with a two-year jail sentence, and a third or subsequent offense would be a Class D felony — a five-year prison sentence.

Maybanks said all the prosecutors at the committee meeting agreed this gap in the law needed a solution. He proposed this about three years ago, but at that time it didn’t make the group’s priority list.

These kinds of offenses can be “traumatic for victims,” he said, and if the offender has a more serious problem, the new law helps address those — which could prevent more serious crimes later.

Zimmermann Smith said Johnson County had a case where the offender’s behavior was more concerning because he committed multiple groping incidents as he rode a bike by women who were jogging in the park. He groped the genital area of each.

That kind of contact allowed the prosecutor to charge Anthony Michael Long, 52, of Iowa City, with charges of third-degree sexual abuse, assault to commit sexual abuse and simple assault. He pleaded to two counts of assault with intent to commit sexual abuse, aggravated misdemeanors, Zimmermann Smith said.

According to court documents, the offender received a suspended sentence, except for 45 days he was ordered to serve in jail in 2016. He was on probation until 2018 and during that time participated in sex offender treatment.

Long also was sentenced to a special sentence of parole because it was a sex offense and he must be on the sex offender registry. He remains on parole for 10 years.

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