Jury Convicts Mason City Man for Sexual Abuse of Two Boys

A man who transported two boys across state lines to molest them was convicted by a jury on July 5, 2012, after a three-day trial in federal court in Cedar Rapids.

Michael Goodale, age 31, from Mason City, Iowa, was convicted of two counts of aggravated sexual abuse, two counts of interstate transportation of a minor for the purpose of engaging in criminal sexual activity, and one count of accessing child pornography. The verdict was returned following about two hours of jury deliberations.

The evidence at trial showed that, between 2008 and September 2011, Goodale performed sex acts with two boys aged 9 to 13, both in Iowa and in Minnesota. Goodale also viewed child pornography on a laptop computer in 2011.

Sentencing before United States District Court Chief Judge Linda R. Reade will be set after a presentence report is prepared. Goodale remains in custody of the United States Marshals Service pending sentencing. Goodale faces a mandatory minimum sentence of 30 years’ imprisonment and a possible maximum sentence of life imprisonment, $1,250,000 in fines, $500 in special assessments, and at least five years and up to life on supervised release following any imprisonment. He also will be required to register as a sex offender.

This case is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Mark Tremmel and was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Mason City Police Department.

This case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse. Led by the United States Attorneys’ Offices and the Criminal Division’s Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section, Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state, and local resources to locate, apprehend, and prosecute individuals who sexually exploit children, and to identify and rescue victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit www.usdoj.gov/psc. For more information about Internet safety education, please visit www.usdoj.gov/psc and click on the tab “Resources.”

Court file information is available at https://ecf.iand.uscourts.gov/cgi-bin/login.pl. The case file number is CR 12-3011.