3 plead guilty to criminal sexual conduct charges
Published 8:27 am Thursday, February 22, 2018
Three Austin men pleaded guilty to criminal sexual conduct charges Tuesday in Mower Count District Court. All are scheduled for sentencing in June.
Teven Jamal Anderson, 21, of Austin pleaded guilty to felony fourth-degree criminal sexual conduct with a victim aged 13-15 and an actor more than 48 months older as part of plea agreement. He initially pleaded not guilty to the charges on March 9.
A charge of felony third-degree criminal sexual conduct with a victim aged 13-15 and an actor more than 24 months older will be dropped at the sentencing.
On Dec. 1, 2015, police were called by a man who said his 14-year-old daughter was in a sexual relationship with Anderson, who was 19 years old at the time. He had learned of the relationship by reading her text messages with Anderson. The girl told police she had engaged in sexual acts with Anderson over a dozen times and that they would leave school during the day to have sex at his house.
She also said he knew her age and told her to “keep quiet” about the relationship.
Police spoke to Anderson on Feb. 9, 2016. He told them he and the girl were “pretty good friends,” but they were not dating. He denied having sex with her, claiming his father was always in the room when they were at his house.
Anderson will be sentenced on June 14.
Timothy Donald Camerer, 43, of Austin pleaded guilty to two counts of felony second-degree criminal sexual conduct with a victim under 16 years of age-significant relationship as part of a plea agreement. He initially pleaded not guilty to the charges on May 15.
Police received a report on April 28 after a teenaged girl said Camerer had been sexually assaulting since she was eight or nine years old. She said he would touch her inappropriately and when she told him to stop, he would make her feel bad by saying nobody loved or cared about him.
She also said that, although he never threatened her not to tell, he told her if she really loved him, she wouldn’t tell anyone about the abuse and that he would sometimes make it sound like he did it for her own good.
Camerer will be sentenced on June 21.
Oscar Armando Vargas, 22, of Austin pleaded guilty to two counts of felony first-degree criminal sexual conduct-penetration of a child under 13 years of age as part of a plea agreement. He initially pleaded not guilty to the charges on Oct. 23.
Another charge of felony first-degree criminal sexual conduct-penetration of a child under 13 years of age and two counts of felony first-degree criminal sexual conduct-penetration of a child under 16 years of age-significant relationship will be dropped at sentencing.
In September, a 15-year-old girl told police Vargas had repeatedly assaulted her sexually beginning when she was six or seven years old. Intercourse began when she was 10 or 11, and that he said he would call her “a liar” if she told anyone.
The victim’s stepfather said Vargas was “very nervous” when he confronted him about it.
Police in Marshalltown, Iowa, found Vargas and told him to surrender to Austin police, which he did on Sept. 30.
Vargas told police that he had been having sexual contact with the victim since he was 13 and that he had started having intercourse with her five years earlier.
Vargas will be sentenced on June 14.