TAMA - The Iowa Court of Appeals has upheld the sexual abuse plea of a teenager who was charged after he talked about the crime during therapy.

Andrew Lowe, now 22 and a resident of Buckingham, was 17 and living in a juvenile residential treatment center for a separate sex offense when a counselor encouraged him to admit any other incidents because it would be beneficial for his treatment, according to court records.

Lowe talked about abusing a 3-year-old girl in 2003, and he was soon taken into custody for second-degree sexual abuse.

The charge was reduced to third-degree sex abuse as part of a plea agreement.

Lowe later challenged the plea saying his attorney at the time didn't tell him about court rules that require a confession to be corroborated by other evidence.

During a hearing on the matter, Lowe's former attorney said he knew about the rule but couldn't remember if he told Lowe and his parents about it. He said he took the rule into consideration when giving advice to Lowe.

Other evidence in the case included statements the girl made to child protection center workers in 2004 after the allegations came to light.

The girl's parents also placed Lowe in the home at the time of the alleged incident.

In its decision handed down Wednesday, the Iowa Court of Appeals agreed his attorney failed an essential duty. But it said Lowe didn't prove he would have insisted on going to trial if he had known about the corroboration rule.

The plea agreement laid out for Lowe included a deferred judgement with probation. It would have left him without an adult criminal record, and he wouldn't have to register as a sex offender, according to court records.

Those benefits were lost when he later violated his probation, according to the ruling.

The appeals court noted Lowe wouldn't have challenged his guilty plea if he hadn't violated probation.