Hiawatha man convicted for sexual assault of 7-year-old girl

A 20-year-old Hiawatha man who broke into a neighbor's home and sexually assaulted a 7-year-old girl in 2014 pleaded guilty Friday and faces 25 years in prison.

Taylor R. Bowles pleaded guilty to second-degree sexual abuse. As part of the plea agreement, the other charges of first-degree kidnapping and first-degree burglary will be dismissed at sentencing, which is set for Feb. 1, in Linn County District Court.

Bowles admitted during the hearing that he broke into a neighbor's home and committed sexual acts on the child Nov. 26, 2014. He also admitted to knowing she was under the age of 12.

Assistant Linn County Attorney Nic Scott said Bowles will have to serve 17 years before being eligible for parole. He also will have a special sentence of lifetime parole because this is a sex crime and be on the sex offender registry for life. Scott pointed out this conviction can enhance penalties if any future sex offenses are committed by Bowles.

Scott said the plea agreement was offered because the law changed for kidnapping after Bowles was charged in January 2015. Bowles, after breaking into the home through a window, prevented the 7-year-old from leaving her bedroom when she tried to get away to find her mother. This action would have met the elements of the previous kidnapping law but not enough after the Iowa Supreme Court ruled in a Dubuque case that there has to be more than confinement to charge first-degree kidnapping.

Scott said the plea agreement also prevented the child from having to go through another emotional event - testifying in court. He said the issue wasn't lack of evidence – there was plenty of physical evidence. The child gave a description of her attacker and gave details of the assault to a forensic interviewer.

A search warrant affidavit showed investigators also used boot prints left in the snow to help them identify Bowles.

Scott said an officer went back to the girl's home and neighborhood after a fresh snow to look for foot prints Jan. 3. Boot prints had been discovered in the snow at Bowles' residence and were followed to another neighbor's home and then to the girl's home at the same front window that had been entered Nov. 26. The officer also followed these prints back to Bowles' residence.

The neighbors, where the same boot prints were found, had reported in the last few months before the assualt that a male was looking in the windows of their home, according to court records. The boot prints were consistent with Bowles boots.

Investigators also found additional evidence on a door and wall of the girl's home, according to the warrant.

Bowles had been charged for indecent exposure in 2011 as a juvenile, the warrant showed.