SIOUX CITY — Attorneys told jurors during their closing arguments that Abdier Marrero's case came down to one question: Was the former Sioux City North High School cross country coach slapping girls on the butt and commenting about their body for his own sexual gratification?
"When guys are looking at female body parts, what's the reason? It's about sexual desire," Woodbury County Attorney James Loomis said. "He was touching these girls to arouse or satisfy his sexual desires, there's really no other explanation for it."
Defense attorney Patrick Parry said the prosecution presented no evidence showing Marrero's behavior was sexually motivated. None of the girls who testified said they observed Marrero to be aroused when touching them, and he had no sexual contact with any of them.
"Not a single witness said he tried to set up a meeting with them, make a pass at them, tried to kiss them," Parry said. "What's been pretty obvious is the defendant had some inappropriate boundaries."
People are also reading…
Abdier Marrero glances toward the gallery during the opening day of his trial in Woodbury County District Court on Wednesday. Marrero was foun…
Jurors concluded Marrero had acted to satisfy his sexual desires, finding him guilty of one count of sexual exploitation by a school employee. After nearly four hours of deliberations that stretched into Friday evening, jurors, however, determined Marrero had not acted, according to the statute, with "a pattern or practice or scheme of conduct," a finding that reduced Marrero's charge from a Class D felony to an aggravated misdemeanor. Had he been found guilty of the felony, he could have received a five-year prison sentence. He'll instead face a potential two-year prison sentence on the misdemeanor. He'll also be eligible for probation.
Sentencing will be scheduled at a later date. Marrero, who showed no visible reaction when the verdict was read, will remain free on bond pending sentencing. He and Parry exited the courthouse in discussions after the verdict.
After speaking briefly to two of the girls who had testified against Marrero, Loomis said he would reserve comment on the case until after sentencing.
Marrero, 41, who also coached track and was a guidance counselor at North, was arrested and charged in July 2022 after girls on the cross country team told school officials he had slapped many of them on the butt and made comments to them about their bodies from 2018 through 2021.
A girl on the team who also had Marrero for her guidance counselor reported Marrero's behavior to a school employee in early December 2021, launching a preliminary investigation by the school district that culminated in Marrero's resignation on Dec. 14 of that year. When Marrero resigned rather than face being fired, the district dropped the investigation because he was no longer an employee and referred the case to police.
The girl who reported Marrero's behavior and six others testified during the three-day trial in Woodbury County District Court that Marrero slapped them on the butt during practices and meets -- on at least 30 occasions, one of the girls said -- and made comments about how their bodies looked in their clothing. They also said he told them he'd like to get bikini-style uniform shorts for the team, telling individual girls their bodies would look nice in the much shorter shorts. Girls also said Marrero stared at their breasts and other body parts.
The girl who filed the report also said Marrero would grab her butt nearly every time she entered and exited his guidance office and he once sent her a text message saying, "wait until our wedding night." She said the message was part of a running joke between them about her desire to be a doctor and have a stay at home husband. Marrero would joke about someday being her husband, but after that particular text, she became uncomfortable.
Testifying in his own defense, Marrero admitted the comment could have sexual meanings, but said he was joking. He now realizes it was wrong to say it, but said the text had no sexual intent.
"I was just trying to get her to laugh," he said. "I shouldn't have even started it."
In retrospect, Marrero said, he realizes some of the comments he made to the girls were inappropriate.
"I didn't think that what I was doing was going to get looked at in this manner," said Marrero, who was hired as a coach at North in 2007 and as a guidance counselor in 2020.
Marrero said he often slapped his athletes -- girls and boys -- on the butt as a way to congratulate them after a good run or to motivate them, not for his own sexual gratification and said he was unaware his actions and comments made some girls uncomfortable around him.