Earlier this month, the Carroll County District Court received a handwritten filing on a motion to credit a convicted sex offender for time served. Former Ralston city council member, 76-year-old Ronald Gary Turner, plead guilty to second-degree sexual abuse after being arrested in August of 2014 for reportedly forcing a child relative, younger than 10 years old at the time, to touch his genitals. In early 2015, Turner was sentenced to a prison term of up to 10 years, but now has requested the courts grant him credit for time served during a period of monitoring prior to the court proceedings. Turner writes in the motion that he should receive credit for two hours spent incarcerated on Aug. 7, 2014 and for five months and 22 days between his incarceration and his guilty plea when he was required to self-report if he left his residence. In the motion, he cites former case law as support for the filing. Carroll County Attorney, John Werden, filed a resistance to this motion, stating the case law is not applicable as the Iowa code referenced was amended in 2012 and the defendant is not entitled to sentencing credit for “supervised” pretrial release.
