A West Des Moines man was sentenced to 10 years in prison after pleading guilty Friday to a charge of lascivious acts with a child in an incident occurring last May in Perry.
Jesse Donavon Taggart, 22, formerly of Perry, was originally charged with second-degree sexual abuse-forcible rape, indecent exposure and dissemination of obscene material to a minor.
A plea bargain, reducing the charges to one count of lascivious acts with a child in exchange for Taggart’s guilty plea, was accepted in September by Dallas County District Court Judge Paul R. Huscher.
Taggart, sentenced Friday by Dallas County District Court Judge Richard B. Clogg, must submit a DNA sample and register on the Iowa Sex Offender Registry.
Taggart was arrested July 8 by the Perry Police Department in connection with crimes occurring in May. At the time of the arrest, Perry Police Chief Eric Vaughn said his department’s investigation “discovered that probable cause existed to charge Taggart with assaulting a single female victim under the age of 12.”
