Grandfather sentenced to probation after molesting 6-year-old granddaughter; family says state 'failed at providing justice'

ELDORA, Ia. — A 61-year-old Hardin County man was sentenced to probation Friday after pleading guilty last month to molesting his 6-year-old granddaughter.

Judge James McGlynn sentenced Dean E. Hilpipre to five years of probation for the crime of lascivious acts with a child. Hilpipre will not be allowed to contact his granddaughter, now 7, for five years and will be required to undergo sex-offender treatment.

A 10-year prison sentence was suspended as part of a plea deal with prosecutors, who recommended the judge sentence Hilpipre to probation. He will also be required to abstain from alcohol and other mood-altering drugs and to register as a sex offender.

Fighting through tears to read victim impact statements at the Hardin County Courthouse, the girl's family sharply criticized the legal system, including the prosecutors, for what they said was a failure to provide justice.

"You have failed at providing justice to a 7-year-old girl who’s afraid to leave her house while the man who did it lives three blocks away," said the girl's mother, Kasey Hilpipre.

"The victim needs more justice than the predator."

The girl's family described for the court the sexual acts that Dean Hilpipre performed on his granddaughter and forced her to perform on him in return — actions Kasey Hilpipre said "broke the whole family."

The victim's 14-year-old sister, who first reported the abuse to a school counselor, called her grandfather "nasty" for abusing his granddaughter despite saying he loved her.

"Every time I look into my sister’s eyes, I see a broken heart because of you," she said. "It’s hard to just look at my sister in the eyes and tell her I love her because I’m scared she doesn’t believe me."

Dean Hilpipre declined to say anything in court.

Emotions were running high during the two-hour proceeding, where a woman was escorted out of the courtroom after shouting profanities at McGlynn as he pronounced his sentence. Deputies said criminal charges against the woman were possible.

The sentencing followed an extraordinary explanation by McGlynn of the judicial ethics rules that prohibit him from being swayed by outside influence, including "public clamor or fear of criticism."

"I know you didn’t come here for a civics lecture, but that’s kind of what I’m going to do, folks," he said, acknowledging the existence of a letter-writing campaign in support of the victim.

"I understand that your letters, your emails and your presence today are well-intentioned, but, honestly, what was the purpose of a letter-writing campaign, or the purpose of packing the gym, if not to bring some outside influence to bear on the court’s decision today?" he said.

In accepting the plea agreement and sentencing Hilpipre to probation, McGlynn noted Hilpipre's lack of prior criminal convictions and said he had to consider what sentence would offer Hilpipre the best chance at rehabilitation and provide the maximum safety for the community.

"I see no authority that I have to undo that agreement and certainly have no authority to sentence this defendant for a crime that he’s not been convicted on," he said.

Hilpipre, of Alden, was originally charged with two counts of second-degree sex abuse and faced as much as 50 years behind bars if convicted.

Assistant Hardin County Attorney Denise Patters said in court that several factors went into the decision to enter plea negotiations, including the fact that if the case went to trial prosecutors would not have been able to submit as evidence a video of the victim describing the abuse and the girl would have been required to testify in court and be cross-examined by her grandfather's lawyers.

"We had some serious concerns about the ability to present evidence that would be necessary to hold this man accountable," Patters said.

A psycho-sexual evaluation of Hilpipre found him to present a low risk of re-offending.

Pleading with McGlynn to send Hilpipre to prison, Kasey Hilpipre said he had already abused his granddaughter over and over for years.

"Your honor, he did it the first time and reoffended over and over and over for years until he was caught. Your honor, if he wasn’t caught, I bet he would still be doing that," she said.

Hilpipre's son, Dale Hilpipre, has custody of his abused daughter during the week. Like his father, Dale Hilpipre lives in Alden, a town of fewer than 800 people with no local police department.

In federal courts, 98 percent of those charged with child sex crimes ranging from child porn to trafficking end up in prison. From 2004 to 2013, the average prison sentence for those offenders nearly doubled from 70 months behind bars to 139 months, statistics released last fall by the Bureau of Justice Statistics show.

But in Iowa’s state courts, many child sex abuse cases result in no conviction, state statistics show. And unless the offender is convicted of a forcible felony, probation is a common outcome.

In Hardin County, 48 sex offenses were charged from 2010 to 2017; just 17 resulted in a conviction, according to Iowa's Division of Criminal and Juvenile Justice Planning.

The Register reported last year that probation is also a frequent outcome for school district employees accused of sexual abuse of students.

During the state of Iowa's last fiscal year, 37 people were convicted of lascivious acts with a child, the same crime for which Hilpipre was sentenced.

Probation was ordered in 21 cases (57 percent). In 16 cases, offenders received probation and a prison sentence that may have been suspended by a judge.