Iowa’s Des Moines Former Ames nurse practitioner and business owner Carl Dale Markley admitted to exploiting 14 victims over almost 20 years when he entered a guilty plea to 15 counts of sex trafficking by deception and compulsion, according to federal authorities.
Markley tricked young guys into performing commercial sex activities between 2004 and 2023 by making up complex tales. He made up claims that he was working on product development, third-party research, classwork, or medical or massage certificates. Under false pretenses that the money was from grants or institutional financing, Markley paid the men for their actions.
The plea deal states that Markley fabricated consent forms and contracts, tricked victims into thinking they were taking part in genuine study, and used fictitious data to support his falsehoods. In certain cases, he secretly recorded the victims—including young male children—using hidden cameras. By making up the idea that their involvement would help others, Markley played on his victims’ sense of compassion.
Judge Stephanie M. Rose of the Chief U.S. District Court will sentence Markley on March 24, 2025. He faces a mandatory minimum sentence of 15 years in jail and a maximum sentence of life in prison for each of the 15 crimes.
The FBI, the Iowa Department of Public Safety’s Division of Criminal Investigation, and the Ames Police Department all looked into the matter. The Southern District of Iowa U.S. Attorney’s Office is prosecuting it.
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