Waverly man sentenced to up to 10 years on sex charge

By Bob Steenson, bsteenson@charlescitypress.com

A Waverly man has been sentenced to up to 10 years in prison after pleading guilty to charges of sexual crimes with a child in Floyd County over the summer.

Michael Douglas Ahrenholz, age 43, was charged with second-degree sexual abuse, a Class B felony; lascivious acts with a child, a Class C felony; and indecent exposure, a serious misdemeanor; for acts that allegedly occurred in 2019.

Ahrenholz pleaded guilty in June to the charge of lascivious acts with a child, in a plea agreement where the Floyd County Attorney’s Office would drop the sexual abuse and indecent exposure charges and recommend a suspended sentence.

During sentencing in Floyd County District Court on Monday, Judge DeDra Schroeder imposed a sentence of up to 10 years in prison, with credit for time Ahrenholz had already been in custody in the case.

A judge is not required to follow the sentencing recommendations and can impose any penalty allowed for the crime in question.

She also sentenced him to Iowa’s special sentence for sexual crimes, which places him under the supervision of the Iowa Department of Correctional Services for life, ordered him to register with the Iowa Sexual Offenders Registry and extended a no-contact order with the victim.

Schroeder imposed a fine of $1,370 plus 15% surcharge, but suspended that.

According to court documents, Ahrenholz admitted to sexually touching a child and exposing himself to a child while swimming. The same initials are used to identify the alleged victim in each of the three charges.