On Tuesday, Sept. 15, 42-year-old Robert L. Chedester of Manning and his attorney, Joel Baxter, appeared before Judge Kurt J. Stoebe, in the Iowa District Court for Carroll County at which time Chedester entered a plea of guilty to four different counts associated with charges of sexual abuse upon a child under the age of 12 that occurred between May of 2010 and February of 2015. Chedester pled guilty to two counts of Lascivious Acts with a Child—Habitual Offender, a Class C Felony and to two counts of Incest—Habitual Offender, a Class B Felony. The court accepted the pleas and sentenced him to no more than 15 years and no less than three years on each count. The sentences for the incest counts will run consecutively with the sentences for the Lascivious Acts with a Child counts. Chedester will get credit for time served, but Judge Stoebe imposed special sentences that will commence after Chedester has completed those he had just received for the criminal offenses. The special sentencing applied to each count of Lascivious Acts with a Child orders Chedester to the custody of the Director of the Department of Corrections for the remainder of his life. The special sentence handed down for incest charges was an additional ten years. Stoebe ordered those sentences to be served consecutively. As a part of the plea agreement, five other charges against Chedester were dismissed.
