Carl Markley, a former licensed nurse practitioner and co-owner of Perfect Games and Inside Golf in Ames, was sentenced to life in prison on Monday.
According to previous Daily reporting, Markley pleaded guilty to fifteen counts of sex trafficking by fraud and coercion in November 2024.
“From at least 2001 to April 2023, [Markley] used fraud and coercion to cause dozens of teenage boys and young men, and a few young women, to engage in sex acts in exchange for money or some other benefit,” according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office, Southern District of Iowa.
Markley would use his profession and position in the community to befriend victims, then “groom and repeatedly sexually abuse them,” according to the press release. He would also often place hidden cameras to record the abuse.
A criminal investigation into Markley was opened in December 2022 when “the Ames Police Department received a complaint that Markley had been conducting physicals on minor male children without parental consent.”
The complaint eventually led to 35 search warrants and hundreds of interviews conducted in collaboration between the Ames Police, the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Iowa Department of Public Safety’s Division of Criminal Investigation.
“They also seized and searched dozens of electronic devices, including seven cellphones and ten computers determined to be Markley’s and on which they located the hidden-camera materials Markley had created, internet-based child pornography, including images depicting children under the age of twelve and other evidence of Markley’s crimes,” according to the release.
Ames Police Department Chief of Police Geoff Huff commented on the case in the statement released by the U.S. Attorney’s Office.
“This case is a stark reminder that those who abuse positions of trust for personal gain will be held accountable,” Huff stated. “We commend the bravery of the victims who came forward and the relentlessness of our officers and partner agencies in bringing this perpetrator to justice.”
Richard Westphal, a U.S. attorney, also commented on Markley’s abuses and character.
“Markley’s life sentence was absolutely warranted and necessary to permanently prevent anyone from being victimized by him again,” Westphal stated. “His defiance and failure to accept responsibility only exemplifies what a monstrous sexual predator he is. Our gratitude to the courage of the victims in this investigation and the dedication of the law enforcement personnel who identified and proved Markley’s horrendous acts of sex trafficking and abuse.”
