Lindaman convicted of failure to register as sex offender

By Bob Steenson, bsteenson@charlescitypress.com

A Charles City man previously convicted of assault with intent to commit sexual abuse has now been convicted of two counts of failure to register as a sex offender.

A Butler County jury took less than half an hour to reach guilty verdicts against Douglas Lindaman last Friday. The trial had been moved to Allison on a change of venue from Floyd County because of publicity on this and previous cases Lindaman has been involved in.

The convictions are aggravated misdemeanors, punishable by up to two years in jail or prison and up to a $6,250 fine on each count. Sentencing has been set for June 25.

Lindaman was found guilty of assault with intent to commit sexual abuse in April 2018. He had been accused of touching the genitals of a teen boy who worked on Lindaman’s farm as a hired hand.

That was Lindaman’s third trial on that charge. He had been found guilty of sexual abuse in the third degree in Floyd County District Court in April 2016 and was sentenced to up to 10 years in prison on that Class C felony.

He was serving that sentence when the Iowa Supreme Court overturned the verdict in May 2017, sending the case back to trial and releasing Lindaman on bond. A second trial on the charge, held in Franklin County, ended in a mistrial in February 2018.

In April 2018, a Cerro Gordo County jury found Lindaman guilty of the lesser charge of assault with intent to commit sexual abuse. He was sentenced to up to 2 years in jail or prison, although it is possible that Lindaman has already served enough time on that charge to satisfy that sentence.

Part of the sentence also included a requirement to register with the Iowa Sex Offender Registry.

Lindaman almost immediately appealed that verdict and was free on an appeal bond.

He argued that the appeal stopped the requirement to register, just as it stayed any incarceration or other penalty, but the Floyd County Attorney’s office argued that the requirement to register becomes effective on conviction, regardless of appeal.

After Lindaman was charged with failure to register the first time he again did not register and was charged again. The second time he was taken into custody and was required to register with the Iowa Sex Offender Registry as a condition of his release, so he has been on the registry since Aug. 15, 2018.

Lindaman had previously been convicted of two felony counts of lascivious acts with a child in 1988. He served two years in prison for those offenses, but the Iowa Sex Offender Registry did not begin until 1995.

Court records show that the prosecutor and the defense presented their cases on the failure to register charges on Thursday afternoon. The jury began deliberations at 10:05 a.m. Friday and returned with the guilty verdicts at 10:32 a.m.

Lindaman’s appeal of his assault conviction is ongoing.