Plea change hearing scheduled in Mason City sexual abuse case

MASON CITY — A plea change hearing has been set for a former Mason City firefighter charged with sexually abusing a 15-year-old earlier this year.

29-year-old Gendel Bimbo is accused of taking two people to the Hampton Inn and Suites in Mason City sometime between January 23rd and January 25th and having sex with one of them, who was age 15 at the time.

The Iowa Division of Criminal Investigation investigated the incident since Bimbo was a city employee at the time of the alleged crime, with Bimbo resigning and being arrested on May 2nd on a charge of third-degree sexual abuse.

Bimbo had pleaded not guilty to the charge in June and was scheduled to be tried on November 5th, but online court records show a plea change hearing has been scheduled for November 25th in Cerro Gordo County District Court.