Mother tells sex abuser he ‘took advantage of innocence,’ broke trust, stole her child’s safety

CEDAR RAPIDS — The mother of a child who was sexually abused last year, said Tuesday “there is no pain greater” for a parent than knowing their child was hurt, especially by someone they trusted and treated as family.

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“You took advantage of innocence,” she said in her victim statement at Delbert Dean Grimm’s sentencing. “You stole a part of my child’s safety, peace and sense of self. What you did didn’t just happen in a moment — it continues every single day in the form of fear, anxiety and confusion.”

The mother said her child now struggles with nightmares and days “filled with silence and questions that don’t have answers.” She was speaking on behalf of her child and the another in this case.

“You didn’t just break the law — you broke hearts and you broke trust,” she told Grimm, 81, of Cedar Rapids, who was being sentenced for sexually abusing a 5-year-old boy and a 6-year-old girl.

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She said the damage cause by Grimm had a ripple effect through every part of their lives. Their home has changed, and their laughter has been replaced by tears and tension.

Despite all the pain Grimm caused, he didn’t win, the mother noted. Her child and their family are stronger than the pain and they are slowly healing.

“I hope every single day of your sentence you remember the faces of the children you hurt,” she said. “I hope you think about the families you destroyed and I hope the weight of that never leaves you.”

Linn County Attorney Nick Maybanks asked 6th Judicial District Judge Michael Harris to sentence Grimm to up to 20 years — running the two 10-year sentences consecutively — to recognize each child’s trauma. The children deserve to know that what happened to them mattered, he said.

Jeff Beatty, Grimm’s lawyer, asked for three years probation, citing a lack of previous criminal history and he because he said Grimm wasn’t a serious risk to reoffend.

Grimm, during sentencing, declined to make a statement.

Judge Harris ran the two 10-year sentences for lascivious acts with a child — fondle or touch — consecutively for a total of up to 20 years in prison because there are two victims who will have to live with this trauma for the rest of their lives.

Grimm previously made Alford pleas to the two charges — meaning he didn’t admit guilt but admitted the prosecution has sufficient evidence to make a conviction.

The other two charges of second-degree sexual abuse were dismissed as part of the plea agreement.

The judge also ordered Grimm to comply with the sex offender registry and serve a special sentence of parole for life, which is required by Iowa law.

The five-year no contact orders also were extended against Grimm to protect each child.

According to a criminal complaint, two children — a 6-year-old girl and a 5-year-old boy — reported to a forensic interviewer with UnityPoint Health-St. Luke’s Child Protection Center that the sexual abuse happened in 2024 at a residence in Cedar Rapids.

A relative of the children witnessed what appeared to be sexual abuse of the 6-year-old from a Blink camera installed in the living room. She viewed the live feed on her cellphone on June 24, 2024.

Another relative of the children also saw the same thing that day as she walked into the house at the same time, the complaint stated. Grimm told them and police in an initial interview that he had fallen down and didn’t know what “his hands were doing.”

Later, a relative of the 5-year-old boy asked him if he also was inappropriately touched and he confirmed it happened. He reported to a forensic interviewer about another incident and the relative said it would have been about six months before because that’s when the child last saw Grimm.

Trish Mehaffey covers state and federal courts for The Gazette.

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