On the eve of a bench trial where he faced up to 167 years in prison if convicted, a former Duncombe man accepted a plea agreement and avoided trial.

Paul Eran Peterson, 41, was facing more than a dozen charges — two counts of second-degree sexual abuse, a Class B felony; seven counts of third-degree sexual abuse, a Class C felony; nine counts of incest, a Class D felony; and one count of indecent contact with a child, an aggravated misdemeanor.

In May, Peterson was convicted in a bench trial of a slew of sexual abuse and incest charges in an unrelated case. On July 19, Webster County District Court Judge John Flynn sentenced Peterson to up to 82 years in prison for those crimes.

Following his first bench trial, Peterson asked for this second trial to be decided by a judge instead of a jury as well. The bench trial with District Court Judge Angela Doyle was set to start Tuesday morning. However, late Monday, Peterson and the Webster County Attorney’s Office struck a deal for the defendant to plead guilty to 10 of the 19 charges.

Peterson entered his plea in writing and verbally in court on Tuesday morning. He pleaded guilty to five counts of third-degree sexual abuse and five counts of incest. The remaining nine counts are to be dismissed by the prosecution.

In the plea agreement, at sentencing, the state will recommend each charge of incest be served concurrently to its corresponding sex abuse charge, and that the five sex abuse charges be served consecutively, for a total of up to 50 years in prison. The sentences for this case would be served consecutively with the 82 years Peterson is already serving, totaling up to 132 years in prison.

A sentencing hearing is scheduled for Jan. 30, 2023.

Peterson has filed an appeal for his May 2022 conviction. That appeal remains pending in the Iowa Courts system.