Appeals Court upholds ruling in sex abuse case

The Iowa Court of Appeals has upheld the conviction of a man who admitted to Muscatine police that he’d had sexual contact with a child. Scott Stufflebeam pleaded guilty to lascivious acts with a child after being accused of sexually abusing a 13-year-old. His new lawyer filed an appeal, saying Stufflebeam’s old lawyer told him he had no chance of winning at trial and had pressured him to plead guilty. The Court has ruled lawyers often persuade clients to act upon advice which is unwillingly or reluctantly accepted. The judges on the Court of Appeals also cited the comments of a district judge, who told Stufflebeam that frankly, he didn’t believe his claims.