After deliberations moved into a second day, jurors found a former Davenport mobile home park resident guilty of second-degree sexual abuse after he was accused of sexually abusing a child.
Scott County Attorney Mike Walton said they are pleased with the verdict and that it was a tough case.
"The age of the victim makes it very tough," he explained. "The victim was not able to testify, because it was obviously a very young child so to be able to do it without the victim and obtain a verdict was a good thing."
The case began when a parent reported possible sexual abuse of his children who lived in the Patriot Mobile Home Park in west Davenport, Iowa. The complaint stated the three children were two, four and six years old. A total of at least six children were allegedly molested, assaulted, photographed and videotaped by registered sex offenders who lived at the mobile home park.
Melvin Lucier, 55, and several other men were charged. Lucier faced at least seven counts, in connection with three cases, charging him with sexual abuse as well as violations of the sex offender registry requirements. A jury found him guilty of second-degree sexual abuse, and the verdict was delivered Thursday, July 16, 2015, in Scott County Court. His sentencing was set for September 3.
Testimony from a five-year-old girl indicated Lucier had touched her inappropriately.
After reading the verdict, the judge mentioned that Lucier was convicted in 1995 for second-degree sexual abuse in Linn County, Iowa. Walton said because he has a prior conviction for sex abuse against a child, Lucier will face a mandatory life sentence.
Walton also added that they it is their "intent to go forward on all pending charges" involving Lucier, which includes the same charge for two different victims in this case. The trials for those are August 3rd, 2015 and October 26th, 2015.
The mothers of several alleged victims were also charged when they were accused of allowing children - including their own children - to stay with known sexual offenders. One mom let her child go camping with one of the sex offenders and the child was then sexually abused, police said.
Sherry Ann Oats was sentenced in December 2014 to nine years in prison after she pleaded guilty to five of the eight initial counts of child endangerment filed against her. Sarah Melissa McConnell was sentenced June 18, 2015, to ten years in prison after she was convicted of two counts of child endangerment resulting in bodily injury.
Oats’ adult daughters, Jenni Jenkins and Jessica Epping, each faced multiple charges of child endangerment. Court records showed both women pleaded guilty in March 2015 after they were evaluated for mental competency to stand trial, but they had not yet been formally sentenced.
Shaneka Posey faced two counts of child endangerment with bodily injury. Court records showed Posey was also being evaluated to determine whether she was competent to stand trial.
Lucier’s half-brother, James Faler, pleaded guilty July 13, 2015, to five counts of sexual exploitation of a child. Faler, who was already a registered sex offender, had electronic and printed images of child pornography with him when he was arrested in Kentucky on May 31, 2013, and the children in those images were identified as the victims who lived in Davenport.
Thomas Jenkins Sr. was also charged in September 2014 in connection with the case. Court records showed he pleaded guilty in April 2015 to two of three original counts of criminal sexual abuse, for which he was sentenced in April 2015 to 50 years in prison.
David Conger was also charged with violating the terms of the sex offender registry in connection with the case.
Patriot Mobile Home Park, at 4847West Kimberly Road, has since been renamed Brown’s Mobile Home Park.
Walton said he believes the investigation is complete.
"If something else arises, it would be investigated but this was an extensive, exhaustive investigation by the Scott County Sheriff's Department," he explained.
He added that this case was difficult because of the complicity of the families involved.
"Especially - unfortunately - the mothers of some of these children," he said. "It is very difficult for the Department of Human Services or investigative agencies to break that family secrecy if they're putting it into place."
"What helps is community members who keep an eye out for this sort of thing, who are alert to problems with children, children acting in a certain manner, children saying a certain thing - that's important," he concluded.