A 63 month consecutive sentence was handed down to David A. LaVera by a federal judge Friday in the U.S. District Court in Des Moines.
LaVera, 34, had pleaded guilty to the charge of possession of child pornography. That sentence will be served in addition to the 10 years previously given to LaVera on the state charge of third-degree sexual abuse in June.
LaVera was also ordered to 20 years of supervised release for the charge that stemmed from an incident in which 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 released in August 2014. LaVera later uploaded that video onto his laptop computer for viewing.
James Whalen, LaVera’s attorney, said LaVera had placed the camera in the bathroom to catch someone who had stolen money from LaVera. He said the minor in the footage testified she had received no inappropriate advances from LaVera and an adult in the home agreed a resident had a history of stealing. Whalen also spoke about LaVera’s lack of a criminal history.
The federal attorney argued that in the footage you could see the camera was positioned exactly to film a person in the shower. He said if he had wanted to catch the person taking money, he would have put the camera where the money was located, not in a bathroom.
Also, he asked why LaVera would put the footage on his computer if it did not show anyone with the stolen items.
The federal attorney brought up the other events that took place in Newton and Jasper County that also involved minors. He said LaVera claimed to be a “Twilight” actor and enticed a then 14-year-old girl to a park and had inappropriate contact with her.
LaVera spoke at the sentencing apologizing and saying he knows he did something wrong. He said he hopes in treatment he will be able to understand why he made the mistakes he did.
As a part of both the federal and state sentencing, LaVera will have to register as a sex offender for life. Judge John Alfred Jarvey honored LaVera’s request to be incarcerated and receive treatment in or close to his home state of California. LaVera has 14 days to file an appeal.
Contact Jamee A. Pierson at 641-792-3121 ext. 6534 or jpierson@newtondailynews.com