Cedar Rapids man convicted in Iowa City sexual abuse case gets longer than recommended sentence

Hunter
10/05/21

A Cedar Rapids man convicted of assaulting an intoxicated woman in downtown Iowa City back in 2018 was sentenced to decades in prison.

The woman was 19 at the time and had been drinking with friends on November 18th of that year. She was found alone by 34-year-old Carlos Hivento, who reportedly dragged her into a stairwell near the Fieldhouse bar and then into a hotel room, He allegedly assaulted her repeatedly, filming the incidents on his phone.

The woman was able to leave the scene and police took her to a hospital. She later learned that she wasn’t Hivento’s first victim, which motivated her to go through with the charges.

Hivento showed no remorse at sentencing.

He was convicted of five third-degree sexual abuse charges and two counts of invasion of privacy. Prosecutors recommended that he be sentenced to 24 of the maximum 54 years he could have faced. The Gazette says Judge Kevin McKeever ran some of the sentences concurrently and others consecutively, for a total of 34 years in prison.

Hivento still faces charges of bringing contraband into the Johnson County Jail after his arrest for the 2018 incident, and three more sexual assault trials.