North Iowa Woman Gets Suspended Sentenced for Having Sex With a Minor

A north Iowa woman arrested last March for sexually exploiting a minor four years earlier has received a suspended sentence.

Now 28, Sharmae Field of Nora Springs was charged with third-degree sexual abuse, a Class C felony; and sexual exploitation by a counselor or therapist, a Class D felony. In October, she pleaded guilty to the sexual abuse charge. Monday, in Floyd County District Court, she received a suspended sentence for up to 10 years.

Field will also serve five years probation supervised by the Iowa Department of Corrections and be subject to Iowa’s special sentence placing her under the supervision of the Department of Corrections for life. She’s also required to register with the Iowa Sex Offender Registry.

Court documents show that while Field was a counselor at Francis Lauer Youth Services in Mason City, she would pick up a male client near his home in Mason City and take him to her residence in Rudd, where they would have sex. Investigators say the encounters occurred on multiple occasions between March of 2017 and August of 2018, when the victim was between the ages of 14 and 15. Field was 22 when the involvement with the boy started.

A no-contact order against Field has also been canceled at the request of the protected party, because the victim is now legally an adult.