Three co-defendants convicted of sex offense

WASHINGTON — On June 5, 2017, a 17-year-old female reported she was sexually assaulted by multiple men while she was under the influence of alcohol after a high school graduation party. Due to backlogs in testing at the Iowa DCI Criminalistics Laboratory, which have since been resolved, the criminal investigation took two years to complete.

On June 5, 2019, Ryan Montgomery, Lucas Anderson, and Parker Davis, all from Mahaska County, were each charged with Sexual Abuse in the Second Degree, a Class B felony.

After scheduling issues and delays due to COVID-19, the case was finally set to go to trial on March 8, 2022. But prior to selecting a jury, Montgomery, Anderson, and Davis pleaded guilty to Assault with the Intent to Commit a Sex Abuse, an Aggravated Misdemeanor. The three men will be registered sex offenders for life.

“We wanted to empower the victim to steer this ship,” Washington County Attorney John Gish said. “Whether we went to trial to try to convince 12 people of the defendants’ guilt, or accepted a plea like this, depended on the victim.”

Sentencing is scheduled for May 6, 2022, where the victim will be able to confront the defendants face to face.