Dubuque man charged with sexual abuse in Cerro Gordo County now competent to stand trial

MASON CITY — A Dubuque man charged with sexual abuse in Cerro Gordo County is now been ruled as competent to stand trial.

34-year-old Bennett Gonyier was arrested in July after Mason City police accused him of sexually abusing a child under the age of five at a home in northeastern Mason City sometime between July 2nd and July 6th.

Gonyier’s lawyer filed a motion in July, doubting that the defendant was competent after making statements during a meeting in jail. Gonyier in August was ordered to submit to psychological and psychiatric evaluations at the Iowa Medical and Classification Center in Oakdale. That evaluation found him to be incompetent to stand trial, with Gonyier being diagnosed with numerous disorders, but the evaluation also concluded that he was amenable to competency restoration treatment. A district judge ordered that he be taken to the Cherokee Mental Health Institute for treatment designed to restore his competency.

A hearing was held earlier this week in Cerro Gordo County District Court that found Gonyier’s competency has been restored.

He is scheduled to be tried on the second-degree sexual abuse charge on January 28th.