A 33-year-old California man who allegedly impersonated a “Twilight” actor to entice minors pleaded guilty to third-degree sexual abuse during a plea hearing Monday at the Jasper County Courthouse.
David A. LaVera, will be sentenced June 8 on the charge that carries a prison sentence not to exceed 10 years and a fine between $1,000 and $10,000. Additional charges of enticement of a minor, attempting to entice a minor and carrying weapons will be dismissed following the expiration of an appeal date.
LaVera previously pleaded guilty to a federal charge of possessing child pornography and is expected to serve more than five years in prison as part of the agreement; his sentencing will take place June 5 in Des Moines. Additional charges of sexual exploitation of a child-production of child pornography were dropped.
The 33-year-old California man was charged locally in June 2014 after allegedly using his celebrity status to entice a then 14-year-old girl to a park in Baxter after having sexually explicit conversations with the teen on Facebook. While at the park, LaVera is accused of touching the teen inappropriately and then luring her into his vehicle. He allegedly drove her around Baxter until concerned family and friends, who had reported a kidnapping, were able to stop the vehicle and get the girl out of the car.
When stopped by police, LaVera was found with a sword longer than 8 inches hidden in the driver’s side door jam, which was within his reach. LaVera also had four double-edged daggers in the vehicle’s center console within his reach.
The federal charges stemmed from court documents released in August which said LaVera used his smartphone to video a 12-year-old victim taking a shower and a 13-year-old victim using the bathroom at a Newton home. According to court documents, LaVera later uploaded that video onto his laptop computer for viewing.