Lang
4/16/22
A registered sex offender has been sentenced to a decade in prison after pleading guilty in an Iowa City sexual assault case.
Judge Paul Miller sentenced 33-year-old Fitsum Russell of Penn Court in North Liberty to a ten-year sentence on a 3rd Degree Sexual Abuse – 2nd Offense charge on Monday. Russell originally faced life in prison on a more serious sexual abuse allegation, but the charge was reduced as part of a plea deal.
The 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, 2021. 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 was already 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.