$1M lawsuit filed against lottery winner who molested granddaughter

Dean Edward Hilpipre faced the possibility of a 50-year sentence if convicted for the charge of 2nd degree sex abuse. His sentence was later reduced to five years' probation. (Hardin County)

An Iowa mother has filed a $1 million civil lawsuit after her 6-year-old daughter's grandfather -- who pleaded gulty to molesting the child -- saw his sentenced reduced and weeks later claimed a $100,000 lottery prize.

Kasey Hilpipre claims the criminal justice system “did virtually nothing to punish him,” the Des Moines Register reported. She claims the crime caused her daughter psychological and emotional harm.

The grandfather, Dean E. Hilpipre, 61, of Alden, claimed the lottery prize a few weeks after pleading guilty to lascivious acts with a child, for which he received five years’ probation, Fox 17 in Des Moines reported.

"It's like the county attorney had compassion for Dean, and Dean was more important than my daughter," Kasey Hilpipre told the Register in February.

"It's like the county attorney had compassion for Dean, and Dean was more important than my daughter."

— Kasey Hilpipre, mother of 6-year-old girl

The abuse, according to the lawsuit, began as early as 2012 when the girl was 2. Over a period of years, Hilpipre repeatedly molested the girl and forced her to inappropriately touch him. The girl told her older sister about the abuse, who then reported it to authorities, the Register reported.

The civil suit also acknowledges Hilpipre’s January lottery win of $100,000 and seeks an injunction to prevent him from spending the money.

“Plaintiff would suffer a great and irreparable injury as the only remedy available to her will have been extinguished,” the document states.

Kasey Hilpipre’s mother, Deborah Yanna of West Des Moines, has lambasted the court’s reduced sentence, FOX  17 reported, accusing them of defending the “monsters,” and the “pedophiles.”

“One day, you know my granddaughter’s gonna know, my grandma was there for me, and my mom,” Yanna said. “The people that truly love her are there to defend her.”