In re the Detention of Fields

── In re the Detention of Fields ── Court: Court of Appeals of Iowa Date: April 15, 2026 Category: General IN THE COURT OF APPEALS OF IOWA _______________ No. 25-0689 Filed April 15, 2026 _______________ In re the Detention of Lonnie Duane Fields, Lonnie Duane Fields, Respondent–Appellant. _______________ Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Jasper County, The Honorable Terry Rickers, Judge. _______________ AFFIRMED _______________ Matthew C. Moore, Assistant State Public Defender, attorney for appellant. Brenna Bird, Attorney General, Anagha Dixit (until withdrawal), and Nicholas E. Siefert, Assistant Attorneys General, attorneys for appellee. _______________ Considered without oral argument by Greer, P.J., and Schumacher and Chicchelly, JJ. Opinion by Chicchelly, J. 1 CHICCHELLY, Judge. Lonnie Duane Fields appeals his civil commitment as a sexually violent predator. He argues there is insufficient evidence to support civil commitment. Upon our review, we find there is substantial evidence and affirm the district court’s determination that Fields is a sexually violent predator. BACKGROUND FACTS AND PROCEEDINGS In October 2024, the State petitioned to involuntarily commit Fields as a sexually violent predator under Iowa Code chapter 229A (2024). In its petition, the State alleged six sexually violent offenses under Iowa Code section 229A.2(14)(a). These offenses were:  An October 1, 1997 conviction for indecent exposure in violation of Iowa Code section 709.9.  A June 5, 1997 conviction for indecent contact with a child in violation of section 709.12.  A July 23, 1997 conviction for indecent exposure in violation of Iowa Code section 709.9.  A July 23, 1997 conviction for indecent exposure in violation of Iowa Code section 709.9  A July 31, 2020 conviction for indecent exposure in violation of section 709.9.  A November 30, 2020 conviction for indecent exposure in violation of Iowa Code section 709.9. The case proceeded to a bench trial. When the trial commenced, Fields was fifty-nine years old and turned sixty a few weeks later. At trial, Fields was called as a witness by the State. During his testimony, Fields admitted to being convicted of sexually violent offenses. He admitted to masturbating in sight of children, neighbors, and strangers in public. Fields estimated he had masturbated in sight of twenty to fifty victims in his lifetime. Many of these instances were undetected sexual offending that Fields had 2 never been charged with or convicted of. Fields also admitted that his most recent attempt at community supervision had, in part, ended because he had used methamphetamine and indecently exposed himself. The State also presented the testimony of Dr. David Thornton. Dr. Thornton evaluated Fields and reviewed Fields’s records from the State and Iowa Department of Corrections. He diagnosed Fields with exhibitionistic disorder and stimulant use disorder. And Dr. Thornton testified these disorders predisposed Fields to future acts of sexual violence. Based on a variety of risk assessment tools, Dr. Thornton testified that Fields posed an above-average risk of recidivism. To rebut that testimony, Fields presented Dr. Luis Rossell. Dr. Rossell did not dispute the diagnoses of exhibitionistic disorder and stimulant use disorder. But he testified that these disorders do not qualify as a mental abnormality for the purposes of the sexually violent predator statute and did