Huggins granted work release

Former Colfax resident Rachel Marie Huggins, who was sentenced to 10 years in prison in 2006 for shooting a local man she accused of sexual abuse, has been granted work release by the Iowa Parole Board, according to media reports.

Huggins, the daughter of former Colfax Police Chief Jon Huggins, was charged in January 2006 with attempted murder, willful injury, assault while participating in a felony and going armed with intent in the New Year's Day shooting of Lambs Grove resident Peter M. Sciarrotta, who was critically injured at the time. In August 2006, Huggins, now 21 years old, pleaded guilty to willful injury and going armed with intent as part of a plea bargain and was sentenced to be imprisoned for 10 years at the Iowa Correctional Institute for Women in Mitchellville. The other charges were dismissed.

Huggins first accused Sciarrotta, who was a family friend and operated a hair salon and photography business out of his home, of sexual abuse in 2004. Although several other women came forward with accusations Sciarrotta, no criminal charges have ever been filed against him. However, media reports indicate Sciarrotta currently is fighting his placement on the Iowa Central Abuse Registry — a government list accessible only when authorized by an applicant for a job at nursing homes, child cares, schools and other places — for allegedly fondling Huggins at his home when she was 15.

See Thursday's edition of the Daily News for more on this story.