Sex abuse victim suffers ‘permanent realities’ of repeated incidents as teen

CEDAR RAPIDS — A woman who was repeatedly sexually assaulted as a teen by a Cedar Rapids man said she suffers long term damage from what happened to her in 2005 and 2006.

The woman, in her victim impact statement read Tuesday by a victim/witness coordinator with the Linn County Attorney’s Office, said she should have been able to trust James Patrick Shannon, but instead, he stole her sense of safety and peace of mind.

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“He was supposed to be a role model and protector,” she said during Shannon’s sentencing.

The woman said she lives with the “permanent realities of what happened to her” — being diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder and a personality disorder, which some sexual abuse victims experience.

She also said his abuse didn’t just affect her but also created a “ripple effect” for others in her family, she said.

She asked the court to hold him accountable because “what he stole can never be given back.”

Sixth Judicial District Judge Liz Dupuich sentenced Shannon, 54, who made an Alford plea to third-degree sexual abuse in September, to up to 10 years in prison, which the prosecution recommended.

In making an Alford plea, a defendant doesn’t admit guilt but admits the prosecution has sufficient evidence to prove guilt.

Dupuich said the reasons for her sentencing included the serious nature and length of the offense — repeated sexual assaults over a two-year period, his criminal history of convictions, including incest, assault with a weapon, burglary and assault causing bodily injury, and his poor conduct — violations — on probation.

Jeremy Elges, Shannon’s lawyer, asked the court for a suspended sentence and placement in a halfway house, as recommended by 6th District Correctional services. Elges said Shannon had been on pretrial release since 2022 — pending his trial — and had no violations.

Shannon, during sentencing, didn’t make a statement, except to say he didn’t lie in the presentencing interview regarding his denial of testing positive for marijuana — a pretrial violation in May, which Assistant Linn County Attorney Molly Edwards pointed out during the hearing.

Edwards also noted Shannon had shown no remorse for the repeated trauma he inflicted upon the victim, who has long lasting pain and damage.

Judge Dupuich also ordered Shannon to serve a special sentence of lifetime parole and comply with the sex offender registry requirements. She also extended a five year no contact order against Shannon to protect the victim.

The other two charges of third-degree sexual abuse were dismissed as part of the plea agreement.

Delayed reporting

The victim didn’t report the sexual abuse to her family members and police until she was 30 years old, according to a criminal complaint. She told police Shannon repeatedly sexually assaulted her when she was 14 and 15 years old in 2005 and 2006 in homes in Cedar Rapids and Marion.

The woman gave investigators details about three incidents — two when she was 14 and one when she was 15, the complaint stated.

Iowa lawmakers eliminated the statute of limitations for sex crimes against children, including sexual abuse, incest, sexual exploitation and human trafficking, in 2021.

Earlier this year, a prosecutor found that most of the open sex abuse cases in Linn County have been lingering in the system for over a year — and some since 2021. As of April, there were 80 open cases. The data showed four started in 2021; four in 2022; 12 in 2023; 39 in 2024; and 19 so far this year, according to the Linn County Attorney’s Office.

Shannon’s trial had been reset 11 times since he was charged in 2022, according to court records.

Linn County Attorney Nick Maybanks and 6th Judicial District Chief Judge Lars Anderson told The Gazette in April they had been working to move these cases forward. The court has implemented additional case management conferences to address any issues and the judges have been setting firm trial dates, granting continuances only under “exceptional” situations or circumstances, according to the worksheets filed after the conferences.

Trish Mehaffey covers state and federal courts for The Gazette.

Comments: (319) 398-8318; trish.mehaffey@thegazette.com