ROBERT ANTHONY HOWARD, DOB: 8/28/1990, pled guilty on March 26, 2013, to the offenses of Lascivious Acts with a Child and Child Endangerment Causing Bodily Injury. The defendant waived his right to a delay and proceeded immediately to sentencing. The Court imposed a prison term of not to exceed ten years on the Lascivious Acts charge and not to exceed five years on the Child Endangerment charge. The sentences were ordered to be served concurrently. In addition the defendant was placed on supervised release for the remainder of his life following completion of the prison sentence.
The case against HOWARD was investigated by the Muscatine Police Department. HOWARD was originally found guilty after a jury trial of the offenses of Sexual Abuse in the Second Degree and Child Endangerment Causing Bodily Injury. The jury trial occurred in August, 2010. The evidence at trial showed that HOWARD had committed a sex act with an 18 month old victim. The Iowa Supreme Court ordered a new trial in December, 2012, after determining that the defendant's confession should not have been admitted into evidence.
"We consulted closely with the family of the victim about the strength of our case after the appeal. It was important to me to reach a resolution of the case which would result in the defendant serving lifetime supervised release and being on the sex offender registry. This was the best result we could hope for to protect the community," said Muscatine County Attorney Alan R. Ostergren.
