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, may be only months away from her release.
Having spent less than three years in prison for critically injuring Lambs Grove resident Peter M. Sciarrotta on New Year’s Day 2006 by shooting him in the chest with a 20-gauge shotgun when he answered his front door, Huggins appeared before the Iowa Board of Parole on Wednesday morning and was told she may be released from Iowa Correctional Institution for Women in Mitchellville upon the successful completion of four months work release and a psychiatric evaluation.
According to court records, Huggins first met Sciarrotta, a family friend, in 1999. When she was 14 years old, she began visiting his home at 102 Highview Drive in Lambs Grove, where Sciarrotta provided hair, make-up and photography services at his business, Peter Michael Studio. During her visits, which lasted until July 2004, Huggins claimed that Sciarrotta allegedly made inappropriate comments to her, asked her to pose nude or partially nude for photographs and often touched her in a sexually inappropriate manner, according to court documents.
After obtaining a search warrant, authorities seized various items from Sciarrotta’s home, including photographs, a folding massage table, a piece of yellow paper with Huggins’ name on it and compact discs. All items, however, were returned on Dec. 23, 2004, and no charges against Sciarrotta were ever filed in connection with the alleged abuse of Huggins.
Although several other women also came forward with accusations against Sciarrotta, no criminal charges have ever been filed against him in those cases as well. However, media reports indicate Sciarrotta currently is fighting his placement on the Iowa Central Abuse Registry — a department of human services 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.
Huggins, the daughter of former Colfax Police Chief Jon Huggins, originally was charged in January 2006 with attempted murder, willful injury, assault while participating in a felony and going armed with intent for shooting Sciarrotta, and she faced up to 75 years in prison at the time. In August 2006, Huggins, who is 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 five years on each of the two counts, with no mandatory minimum on the sentences. The other two charges were dismissed.
Huggins addressed the court before her sentencing in August 2006, admitting her actions that New Year’s Day were wrong but also suggesting that she herself has been denied justice.
“I will not make any excuses for what I did,” Huggins told the court. “What I did was wrong. I made actions that I wish I could take back. I made choices that I wish I hadn’t made, and I’m willing to suffer the consequences of those actions. I am just very disappointed that I am the only person taking responsibility out of this whole situation.”
Mandi Lamb can be contacted at 792-3121 ext. 424 or via e-mail at mlamb@newtondailynews.com.