Benson

A Marshalltown man who was charged with 329 counts of possessing child pornography back in May has reached a plea deal that will require him to spend up to 10 years in prison.

According to court records, Michael Lynn Benson, 65, has agreed to plead guilty to a grand total of 128 counts of sexual exploitation of a minor — purchase or possess depiction of a minor in sex act first offense, each a Class D felony, on Aug. 22, while the remaining counts against him have been dismissed. Because of the high number of counts, the charges are actually broken into four separate cases (two of which were dismissed completely), and the deal will require him to serve two consecutive indeterminate sentences not to exceed five years with credit for time served, suspended fines of $1,025 and civil penalties of $250 for each of the two cases, a DNA test for profiling purposes, a sex offender registry requirement, and a special sentence for 10 years with each case. The disposition also indicates that he does not have a right to appeal his guilty plea, but “if Defendant alleges good cause and/or a defect in the plea proceeding, or improper denial of a motion in arrest of judgment, Defendant shall have 30 days to file a written application for permission to appeal and an application to authorize a transcript to be prepared at state expense.” An appeal bond was set in the amount of $5,000.

The plea also required him to include an admission of possession of all 329 charged images. Benson, who is represented by attorney Jennifer Weaver, was sentenced in Marshall County District Court on Friday, Oct. 3. An original criminal complaint revealed that the Marshalltown Police Department (MPD) officer tasked with investigating the case recovered 1,646 files that had been deleted from Benson’s computer hard drive, and over 800 images involved children. “After further review, 329 images of different children involved child sexual abuse material. Images were recovered of the same child that was first reported through the cybertip,” the complaint read.