Charles City man convicted on sexual abuse charge

By Bob Steenson, bsteenson@charlescitypress.com 

A Charles City man charged with third-degree sexual abuse was found guilty by a Floyd County jury last week.

Michael Joseph Debettignies, age 50, was charged with sexually abusing a woman by performing a sex act against her will or by force and while the woman “was suffering from a mental defect or incapacity which precluded giving consent; or the act was performed while the 20-year-old female was mentally incapacitated, physically incapacitated or physically helpless.”

The incident took place on April 5 or 6, 2012, in Floyd County, according to court records. The charge is a Class C felony.

Debettignies’s DNA was identified on the woman through a sexual assault kit that was completed on her, court records say.

Debettignies was charged by the Floyd County Attorney’s Office in July last year. He pleaded not guilty and the trial began last Tuesday, Sept. 18. The trial concluded Wednesday, and the jury returned a verdict of guilty Thursday afternoon.

Sentencing has been set for 10 a.m. Nov. 13.

The charge is punishable by up to 10 years in prison, up to $10,000 fine, registering on the state sexual offenders registry and a special lifetime probation under supervision of the Iowa Department of Corrections.