Knudsen sentenced to life in prison

After being convicted on three counts of Third Degree Sexual Abuse and one count of Lascivious Conduct with a Minor in February, a rural Cedar Falls man received a sentence of life in prison from Judge Joel Dalrymple at a hearing on Monday afternoon in Grundy County District Court.  
           
Defense Attorneys Michael Bandy and Troy Powell filed two motions on behalf of 39-year-old Paul Ryan Knudsen, who appeared in prison garb and was not handcuffed. The first requested an arrest of judgment, arguing that the verdict was contrary to the weight of the evidence, that a prospective juror spoke inappropriately on the phone about the case during a break and that the judge refused to poll the jury on whether or not members had read two articles published about the case in The Waterloo/Cedar Falls Courier over a weekend recess. They also filed a motion for a new trial on all of the same grounds.
           
“The court has no reason to believe that the jury ignored any critical evidence. The court specifically finds that there was a greater amount of credible evidence that supports this decision,” Dalrymple said. “The defendant’s motions are denied.”
           
The two victims of Knudsen’s crimes, one male and one female, provided Victim Impact Statements before the sentence was handed down and strongly condemned him in their remarks. 
 
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