Iowa Has A Problem With Taking Advantage of Children

Well, first it was this story about an Osceola, IA, woman who was involved in a high-tech kiddie porn ring:

In this case he says investigators think they were distributing “child molestation on demand.” Instead of selling videotapes or e-mailing photos, the investigators charge people were committing acts of child molestation and streaming the video live to viewers as it happened. Patrons would request certain acts be performed, and “get it on demand,” what Counts describes as “pretty sick stuff.”

And then it was this one:

Daniel Dean Duello, 34, of Mount Auburn, was charged with sexual exploitation by a school employee after a two-year investigation, police said.

Duello is accused of having a sexual relationship with a female student from June through December 2004 while he was head varsity football coach and assistant varsity girls’ basketball coach at Vinton-Shellsburg High School. Duello resigned after the allegations surfaced in 2005.

And then another one!  Hull, IA, teachers’ aide Kelly Jean Cuperus, 38, had a relationship with a 15-year-old student (which continued on after his 16th birthday):

Sioux County Attorney Melissa O’Rourke said the sex abuse and lascivious conduct counts are connected to two incidents in which sexual conduct took place last summer, when the boy was 15 years old. Iowa’s age of consent is 16, she said.

The count of sexual exploitation by a school employee alleges that the pair also engaged in sexual conduct several times during the current school year, O’Rourke said.

Anyone think that Iowa has a problem?  This Register article describes the second two cases together and reveals that the Duello case went unresolved for over a year!

Vinton Police Chief Jeff Tilson said the student, who has since graduated, was a member of the varsity girls basketball team, of which Duello was the assistant head coach.

Tilson said he was notified of the alleged sexual conduct in Sept. 2004. He said the investigation concluded after about 1 1/2 years after the police department was able to “track down witnesses – current and former students.”

He still has his teaching license, although that’s finally under review, too.

1 comment March 16th, 2006