CEDAR RAPIDS — A 14-year-old girl who was sexually abused when she was 11 said Tuesday during her abuser’s sentencing that what he did made her “feel bad” about herself, as if the attack it was her fault, even though she knows it wasn’t.

“I’m depressed and I’m suicidal,” the teenager said during her victim impact statement at the sentencing of William Wesley Kelley, 48, of Marion. She said she feels “sad, angry and lost” and experiences panic attacks most days. She has trouble trusting people and especially men.

The teenager had known Kelley for many years and trusted him. Now, it’s “disturbing to even think about it or anything around it because I feel like it takes me back to that moment of the attack.”

On the night it happened, June 4, 2022, the girl said she felt “scared, confused, angry and disturbed” because it was hard for her to believe that someone she trusted would sexually abuse her. She remembers that time every year and said she probably always will.

She had just finished 5th grade and was excited to turn 12 at the end of the summer. He was also looking forward to playing with a new virtual reality headset, which Kelley had bought to “lure me down” when others were away from home for a few hours.

The teenager told her mother that night what happened and was taken to hospital. Her mother reported it to the police. The girl said she had to do an interview at Unity Point Health – St. Mary’s Child Protection Center. Luke and went through an “uncomfortable” physical exam with a doctor.

She said the trial was difficult for her and she never got to tell a jury what he did because he pleaded two years later. Kelley was scheduled to go to trial in September.

The teenager was concerned about the sentence Kelley would receive because he is asking for a deferred sentence and probation. She asked the judge to give Kelly a prison sentence so she can move on and be “happy and safe again”.

Sixth Judicial District Judge Chad Kepros denied Kelley’s request for a stay of sentence and sentenced him to five years in prison for malicious wounding and two years for assault with intent to commit sexual abuse, an aggravated misdemeanor. He then served the sentences concurrently for a total of five years.

Kelly, originally charged with second-degree sexual abuseentered an Alford plea to the lesser charges. In an Alford plea, the defendant maintains his innocence but admits the prosecution has enough evidence for a conviction.

Kepros also ordered Kelley to serve a special sentence of probation for 10 years and comply with sex offender registry requirements because this is a sex offense. Kelley’s conviction also meets the definition of a sexual predation offense, which will enhance future punishment for similar crimes.

The teenager’s mother told The Gazette on Wednesday that her daughter was “incredibly brave and courageous throughout the whole ordeal”. It was “disgusting” for her to have to hear Kelley’s letters of support from his family and church, which “painted” him as a victim and denied his guilt, she said.

When Kelley spoke during his sentencing, he listed all the material things he lost — his house, his cars, his job — and called it a “blip” on his “unblemished record,” the mother noted.

“Permanently hurting my child is not a ‘lip,'” the mother said.

She was glad the judge had “admonished her actions” and told her a suspended sentence was not enough for the harm she caused an 11-year-old child.

The mother admitted she was surprised the system worked in this case.

“Usually the system doesn’t work for child victims, especially when the child is Native American and the perpetrator is a white male,” the mother said.

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