KDSN Radio

A Nebraska man who pleaded guilty to attacking a former U.S. senator as she was running along a riverside park in western Iowa, received a suspended sentence Thursday in Council Bluffs after pleading guilty. Dominic Henton, of Papillion, NE, was ordered to serve two years of probation and must attend a residential treatment center in Council Bluffs for a sex offender treatment program.

On November 8th, 2023, the then 26-year-old Henton assaulted former Arizona U.S. Sen. Martha McSally in Council Bluffs. McSally is also a former U.S. Military pilot. Last November, McSally was in Omaha for a speaking engagement when she asked her driver and hotel staff where a safe place would be to go for a run, but she was ambushed by Henton. McSally said he put a stocking cap over his head, followed her, and attacked her.

Henton was identified through security camera footage and arrested the next day in Omaha. He was sentenced to 360 days in prison but he’ll get credit for 89 days served. Henton has to register as a sex offender for 10 years. Henton’s 360-day jail sentence is less time than McSally and prosecutors hoped for, but Pottawattamie County Attorney Matt Wilber said his office was satisfied with the sentence.

He also commended McSally for fighting off her attacker that day.