Jury selection continues in former legislator’s sex abuse trial

GARNER - Jury selection resumes Thursday morning in Hancock County District Court in the trial of a former North Iowa state legislator accused of having sex with his wife while she suffered from dementia in a nursing home.

Prosecutors allege that Donna Lou Rayhons, 78, was unable to consent to sexual activity with her husband, Henry, also 78, in May 2014 while she was in a Garner care center.

Rayhons, who served in the Iowa House from 1997 until this year, is charged with third-degree sexual abuse. After a battle with Alzheimer's, Donna Lou Rayhons died in August 2014.

The criminal case poses a rare examination of a little-explored aspect of consent, and as a result is gaining national attention.

Much of the previous discussions about rape have centered on the use of drugs or alcohol and the culture on college campuses, But this case focuses on whether a previously consenting spouse now suffering from dementia has the capacity to still say yes to sex.

Rayhons's prominence in the area had earlier prompted the Iowa Attorney General's Office to seek to move the trial out of Hancock County, where prosecutors argued they would not be able to find an impartial jury after extensive news coverage. A judge denied that request.

The area prosecution's division of the Attorney General's Office is handling prosecution at the request of Hancock County Attorney David Solheim, who cited a conflict of interest since Rayhons was a public official from Hancock County.

According to the Hancock County Clerk of Courts Office, 78 prospective jurors appeared Wednesday for the first day of jury selection. Members of the panel who cited conflicts with work, vacations, or medical situations were questioned individually in the judge's chambers. About 10 were dismissed from jury service.

District Judge Gregg Rosenbladt, defense attorney Joel Yunek and prosecutors Susan Krisko and Tyler Buller, both assistant Iowa attorneys general, questioned another approximately 19 jurors about other issues affecting their possible service.

The Globe Gazette is based in Mason City.