IN THE COURT OF APPEALS OF IOWA No. 22-1775 Filed June 7, 2023 STATE OF IOWA, Plaintiff-Appellee, vs. PEDRO MARTINEZ CASTRO, Defendant-Appellant. ________________________________________________________________ Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Marshall County, John J. Haney, Judge. A defendant appeals the sentences imposed on his criminal convictions. AFFIRMED. Angela Campbell of Dickey, Campbell, & Sahag Law Firm, PLC, Des Moines, for appellant. Brenna Bird, Attorney General, and Zachary Miller, Assistant Attorney General, for appellee. Considered by Ahlers, P.J., Badding, J., and Scott, S.J.* *Senior judge assigned by order pursuant to Iowa Code section 602.9206 (2023). 2 BADDING, Judge. Pedro Martinez Castro pled guilty to third-degree sexual abuse and assault with intent to commit sexual abuse involving a fourteen-year-old girl. See Iowa Code §§ 709.4(1)(b)(3)(d), .11(3) (2020); see also id. § 708.1(2)(a). Following a comprehensive plea hearing, during which Martinez Castro admitted the elements of the offenses, the court accepted the pleas and ordered a presentence investigation report. At the sentencing hearing, the State recommended concurrent terms of imprisonment not to exceed ten and two years. The State explained: [T]he State’s recommendation is for imposed concurrent prison sentences in this case for multiple reasons, but primarily because of the nature and circumstances of this crime. The defendant is a 39- year-old male who was employed at a . . . farm at the time of the offense. It was at this . . . farm where he met the victim, who was 13 years old at the time that they met and 14 years old at the time of the crime that he pled guilty to. As evidenced by the defendant’s admissions in his pleas—in his guilty pleas, as well as the Minutes of Testimony, the defendant used knowing this minor at work to obtain opportunities to see her outside of work. He would pressure her to touch and to kiss, and eventually, this led to him asking sex—sexual intercourse with her on at least one occasion. The [presentence investigation report] correctly points out that the defendant has family support, steady and reliable employment, no addiction problems, and no criminal history that is documented, but perhaps, that’s the most alarming—those are the most alarming facts. Despite this support, despite not having a criminal history, despite having employment, the defendant engaged in sexual and predatory behavior by engaging in this sexual relationship with someone who is 14 years old. The defendant has demonstrated that his support system and law-abiding society were not enough to deter him here. He and others who are similarly situated must be deterred from similar behavior. His actions had a detrimental and devastating impact on the victim and her family. Their lives will never be the same. Additionally, the defendant has demonstrated no remorse for his actions, nor about how this has impacted the victim. The defendant did not participate in the [presentence] interview recount 3 of what happened and did not discuss how his actions impacted the victim of this crime. Rather, he took time in the [presentence] …
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