Lang
1/16/22
A registered sex offender accused of a sexual assault last summer in Iowa City has reached a plea deal.
33-year-old Fitsum Russell of Penn Court in North Liberty requested the plea deal on Friday. Judge Andrew Chappell set a plea hearing for April 11th.
The alleged victim told Iowa City Police that Russell met her as she came out of a downtown Iowa City bar looking for her friends just after 1:30am on July 25th. He allegedly grabbed her by the hand and took her to a nearby rooftop, where he sexually assaulted her before leaving.
Responding officers found Russell’s ID at the scene, and his DNA was collected from the woman. Russell reportedly told investigators he hadn’t been in the area of the alleged assault for “several years”.
Russell is on the Iowa Sex Offender Registry for previous convictions, including Indecent Exposure in 2010 in Linn County and two Assault With Intent to Commit Sexual Abuse convictions in Johnson County in 2018. One of the Johnson County incidents was reported behind Mayflower Hall in September of 2017. The other was on the 300 block of East College Street one month earlier. In both cases, Russell met the women downtown before taking them elsewhere and attempting to sexually assault them.
Russell was initially charged with 3rd Degree Sexual Abuse – 2nd or Subsequent Offense. If convicted, he would have faced life in prison. Details of Friday’s plea deal have not been released.