A JUDGE HAS ACQUITTED A 45-YEAR-OLD MONONA COUNTY MAN FOLLOWING A BENCH TRIAL IN ONAWA.
CHARLES WILLIS CARDWELL WAS CHARGED WITH SEXUAL ABUSE IN THE 2ND DEGREE, A CLASS B FELONY, IN 2013.
HE WAS ACCUSED BY A GIRL UNDER THE AGE OF TEN WHO SAID IN A VIDEOTAPED INTERVIEW THAT CARDWELL HAD TOUCHED HER INAPPROPRIATELY WHEN SHE WAS FOUR.
BUT IN COURT AND IN A SEPARATE DEPOSITION, THE VICTIM SAID SHE HAD NO INDEPENDENT MEMORY OF THE EVENT AND DID NOT RECOGNIZE THE DEFENDANT.
CARDWELL WAS REPRESENTED BY SIOUX CITY ATTORNEY DAN VAKULSKAS, WHO ALSO PRESENTED TESTIMONY BY AN EXPERT WHO CRITICIZED THE ORIGINAL FORENSIC INTERVIEW OF THE STATE’S CHIEF WITNESS.
WITH THE ACQUITTAL, CARDWELL AVOIDED A MANDATORY 25-YEAR PRISON SENTENCE.
