Anderson, Davis, and Montgomery

Three men charged for allegedly sexually assaulting a minor female in Washington County recently pleaded guilty to a lesser charge.

County Attorney John Gish announces that co-defendants 31-year-old Ryan Montgomery, 24-year-old Lucas Anderson, and 24-year-old Parker Davis, all from Mahaska County pleaded guilty to assault with the intent to commit a sex abuse, an aggravated misdemeanor. The case stems from a June 4, 2017 incident. The 17-year-old victim reported the next day that she was sexually assaulted by the three men while she was under the influence of alcohol after a high school graduation party. Due to backlogs in testing at the Iowa Division of Criminal Investigation Criminalistics Laboratory, which have since been resolved, the criminal investigation took two years to complete.

On June 5, 2019, Montgomery, Anderson, and Davis were each charged with second-degree sexual abuse, a class B felony. After scheduling issues and delays due to COVID-19, the case was finally set to go to trial Tuesday, but prior to selecting a jury the defendants pleaded guilty. The three men will be registered sex offenders for life. Gish tells KCII, “We wanted to empower the victim to steer this ship. 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 6th. KCII will bring you more information as it becomes official.