Charles City man sentenced to up to 30 years in prison on lascivious acts charges

By Bob Steenson, bsteenson@charlescitypress.com

A Charles City man who pleaded guilty to three charges of sexual involvement with a child has been sentenced to serve up to 30 years in prison.

Daniel Joseph Hibner, age 34, was arrested in March 2023 and charged with sexual abuse in the second degree, a Class B felony.

Last October, Hibner pleaded guilty to three separate felony counts of lascivious acts with a child, each a Class C felony and a lesser charge than the Class B felony sexual abuse charge.

As part of the plea agreement with the Floyd County Attorney’s Office, the prosecution and defense recommended that Hibner be sentenced to three consecutive terms of an indeterminate time in prison of not more than 10 years each.

Last week in Floyd County District Court, Judge DeDra Schroeder sentenced Hibner to the recommended three consecutive terms.

She also fined him $1,370 plus a 15% crime services surcharge on each charge, for a total fine of almost $4,750, and ordered him to register on the Iowa Sexual Offender Registry.

Schroeder also imposed Iowa’s Special Sentence for sexual crimes, which will keep Hibner under the supervision of the Iowa Department of Corrections for the rest of his life after he is released from prison.

The original Class B felony charge has a maximum prison term of up to 25 years, which is less than the total 30 years Hibner was sentenced to under the three Class C felonies.

But the original sexual abuse charge would have had a requirement that Hibner serve 85% of the sentence, according to Floyd County Attorney Todd Prichard. It is possible that Hibner will serve less time in prison under the three separate charges, even though the terms are served consecutively.

The criminal complaint filed in Floyd County District Court alleges Hibner sexually abused a girl between the ages of 5 to 7 at a residence in Charles City in August 2022. The girl allegedly reported the incidents to a forensic interviewer at Allen Child Protective Center in Waterloo.