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One person is in custody and two other suspects are being sought in connection with a 2018 home invasion robbery that severely injured an 82-year-old Kelley woman.

The Story County Sheriff’s Office and Story County Attorney’s Office released the names of the three men they believe broke into the woman's home in August of 2018, beat her and sexually assaulted her.

During the Friday morning news conference, officials said one suspect, Luis Cruz was taken into custody in Eagle Pass, Texas.

Law enforcement officials said two other suspects, Manuel Balderas and Jacob Jimenez are still free.

All three suspects are facing charges of first-degree sexual abuse, first-degree burglary, first-degree robbery, willful injury, two counts of second-degree theft, and one count of operating a vehicle without the owner's consent.

Authorities are calling the crime “heinous” and are eager to bring the suspects to justice.

The men are accused of breaking into the woman's home and spraying a chemical in her face that caused temporary blindness. She also suffered injuries to the face and head after being hit and was sexually assaulted.

She was in the hospital for a week after the incident.
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Why are so many men sexually stimulated by terrorizing the helpless? Could it be something in the limbic region of the brain, some primitive trigger? For a woman to pass her DNA through multiple offspring requires partnership, for a male to successfully pass his DNA only requires force and multiple partners.
 
May 17, 2019
One of two men wanted in the brutal beating and sexual assault of an elderly Story County woman is the great-grandson of the victim, authorities believe.

Jacob Jimenez, 18, knew the 82-year-old woman — who was punched, sexually abused, tied up and robbed by him and two others — as "grandma," according to search warrant applications by Story County investigators.

Jimenez, Manuel Balderas, 20, and Luis Cruz, 17, are accused of breaking into the woman's Kelley home late Aug. 23, 2018, and assaulting her, leaving the victim with a bloodied, swollen and bruised face and brain bleeding, court records show. Kelley, a town of about 300 people, is nearly 10 miles south of Ames.

Jan. 8, 2020
A 20-year-old man has been sentenced to a maximum of 55 years in prison for his role in the violent robbery and assault of an elderly central Iowa woman.

Manuel Eduardo Balderas was sentenced after pleading guilty to second-degree robbery, second-degree burglary, first-degree burglary and willful injury causing serious injury, court records show. He was one of three young men accused of breaking into a then-82-year-old woman's Kelley home Aug. 23, 2018, temporarily blinding the grandmother before beating and robbing her.

The assault victim was left with a bloodied, swollen and bruised face and brain bleeding and was hospitalized for several days after the incident, court records show.

Criminal complaints also alleged sexual assault, but Balderas' first-degree sexual-abuse charge, along with three others, was dismissed with his plea deal.

The other two suspects — 17-year-old Luis A. Cruz and 19-year-old Jacob Jimenez — in the case have also pleaded guilty to robbery, burglary and assault charges and will be sentenced within the coming weeks, court records show. Reynolds said she "worked closely" with the victim, who was related to one of the defendants in the case, during plea negotiations.

Balderas has been ordered not to contact the victim or her family for five years from the sentencing date. He must serve at least seven years in prison before he is eligible for parole, according to the sentencing order.
 
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The third and final defendant in a violent 2018 home invasion has been sentenced to more than six decades in prison.

Luis Cruz, now 18, pleaded guilty in September 2019 to first-degree robbery, first-degree burglary, willful injury causing serious injury and second-degree theft. Cruz was charged alongside Manuel Balderas, 20, and Jacob Jimenez, 18, for breaking into a then-82-year-old woman's Kelley home in August 2018, tying her up, assaulting her and stealing from her home. The woman was hospitalized for several days with injuries including brain bleeding.

Prosecutors said the three also burglarized the home of a relative of the first victim on the same night. Both victims reportedly are related to one of the defendants.

On Monday, Cruz was sentenced in accordance with a plea deal to a maximum of 62 years, with consecutive sentences of 25, 25, 10 and two years. As part of the plea deal, Cruz agreed to testify against his codefendants, and additional counts of sexual assault, burglary, theft and operating a vehicle without consent were dismissed.

Cruz's sentence comes after Balderas was sentenced in January to a maximum of 55 years for his role in the attack. The third defendant, Jimenez, was sentenced in August to consecutive terms of 25, 25 and 10 years for a maximum of 60.
Luis Cruz - 62 years, with consecutive sentences of 25, 25, 10 and two years.
Manuel Balderas - 55 years
Jacob Jimenez - consecutive terms of 25, 25 and 10 years for a maximum of 60.
 
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