MASON CITY – A former Mason City man who pled guilty to continuous sexual abuse of a child and violating a no-contact order in the case has received a long prison sentence for his crimes.
Nathaniel Scott Pearce, age 36, formerly of Mason City, was arrested last year. On May 5, 2021, Mason City Police Officers were called to complete a welfare check on a child at a residence on North Madison Avenue. The Iowa Department of Human Services was called in to assist and a criminal investigation was started into the incident. Based on the results of the investigation, an arrest warrant was issued on May 17, 2021, for two counts of Continuous Sexual Abuse of a Child, a class B felony. Pearce was identified as the suspect in the case and was taken into custody on the arrest warrant in Shakopee, Minnesota. He was extradited to Cerro Gordo county and held on $50,000 cash only bond. He was released for some time as the case progressed in court.
On December 10, 2021, Pearce and his attorney, Richard Tompkins, entered a guilty plea to both charges of Continuous Sexual Abuse of a Child, a class B felony. Mason City police charged Pearce with violating the no-contact order in the case on December 25, 2021; he pled guilty and was sentenced to 7 days in jail.
Pearce was sentenced at a February 7 hearing to concurrent 25-year prison sentences for his sex crimes and must serve 70% of the time at a minimum.
