Man gets 55 years for attack on elderly Iowan

NEVADA, Iowa - A 20-year-old man has been sentenced to 55 years in prison for his role in the violent robbery and assault of an elderly central Iowa woman.

Manuel Eduardo Balderas was sentenced Monday after pleading guilty in November to second-degree robbery, second-degree burglary, first-degree burglary and willful injury causing serious injury, the Des Moines Register reported.

Balderas was one of three men accused of breaking into an 82-year-old woman's Kelley home in August 2018, temporarily blinding the grandmother before beating and robbing her. Investigators say the woman also was sexually assaulted.

Balderas had been charged with first-degree sexual abuse, but prosecutors dropped that charge and three others in exchange for his guilty pleas.

The other two suspects - 19-year-old Jacob Jimenez and a 17-year-old - also have pleaded guilty to robbery, burglary and assault and will be sentenced in the coming weeks.

Police have said Jimenez is the grandson of the victim and that he led Balderas and a 17-year-old to the woman's home to carry out the crime.