Grant, J. (2025, February 19). Couple found not guilty of child neglect. The N’West Iowa REVIEW. https://www.nwestiowa.com/news/couple-found-not-guilty-of-child-neglect/article_00fe5df4-eece-11ef-871d-670dea7bd7b9.html
The catastrophic failure to appropriately monitor foster homes exposes vulnerable children to sexual abuse, severe physical abuse, and emotional abuse, resulting in irreversible psychological damage and devastating personal injury claims. According to a February 2025 report by Jeff Grant of N’West Iowa, this alarming dynamic was seen when a Sioux County, Iowa, jury acquitted former sheriff’s lieutenant and his wife on seven felony counts of child neglect and abandonment. Following an investigation by the Iowa Division of Criminal Investigation, the couple was arrested in early 2024 and accused of severely failing to protect foster children under their care between January 2019 and December 2023. Prosecutors, led by Assistant Attorney General Shawna Johnson, alleged the couple had explicit prior knowledge that one child in their home was committing numerous sexualized acts against other children but took absolutely no action to intervene. During the trial overseen by Chief Judge Patrick Tott, defense attorneys Patrick Parry and Jared Weber did not dispute that the horrific abuse actually occurred. Instead, they successfully argued that the couple acted reasonably once they fully discovered the behavior. After ten hours of deliberation on February 18, 2025, the jury returned a unanimous “not guilty” verdict on all charges, acquitting the former deputy and his wife despite the undisputed victimization of the children living under their roof. However the undisputed fact remained –that children in foster care were victims of child-on-child sexual abuse.