Lang
4/9/25
A Cedar Rapids man has been given the maximum prison sentence after his conviction in an Iowa City sexual assault case.
26-year-old Anthony Cotner was found guilty in January of 2nd Degree Sexual Assault, a Class B Felony. According to arrest records, the victim was walking by the Pre-Game Lounge and Hookah Bar…formerly known as “H Bar”…on the 200 block of South Van Buren Street in October of 2023 when Cotner invited her inside. When the woman refused, Cotner grabbed her and tried dragging her into the bar. When that was unsuccessful, he began strangling her with both hands before sexually assaulting her in the alley behind 505 East College Street. The woman suffered multiple injuries.
DNA found on the woman’s clothing matched that of Cotner, who told police he was in the area at the time but had no idea how his DNA could have been found on the woman’s garments.
A jury took just three hours to convict Cotner. On Friday, Judge Chad Kepros sentenced him to the maximum of 25 years in prison.