Sheriff’s officials in Montgomery County report a Villisca man was arrested Tuesday afternoon on sexual exploitation and child pornography charges. 60-year old James L. McDaniel, of Villisca, was taken into custody at around 2:10-p.m. following a three-month long investigation that was conducted by the Montgomery County Sheriff’s Office along with the assistance of the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, the Nashville, TN Metropolitan Police Department and Iowa Department of Criminal Investigation.

Authorities say McDaniel allegedly engaged in an online relationship with a then-16-year-old girl in Tennessee and was able to coerce the teenager to send explicit pictures,

McDaniel faces charges that include felony Sexual Exploitation of a Minor, as well as Possession of Child Pornography (an aggravated misdemeanor), and Dissemination and Exhibition of Obscene Material to a Minor (a serious misdemeanor).

McDaniel was being held in the Montgomery County Jail on $10,000 cash bond.

A building in Wiota that has served many different functions over the past several decades, was damaged by fire late Tuesday night. Firefighters from Wiota, Anita, Atlantic and Cumberland responded to the reported blaze at the Wiota Steakhouse at 302 Center Street, shortly after 11:20-p.m.

Wiota Steakhouse Fire (Ric Hanson/photos)

Wiota Fire Chief Cody Will spoke with KJAN News at around 12:45-a.m. Wednesday, not long after crews had knocked down the flames and were beginning mop-up duties.

(Will said when the first crews arrived, the kitchen was fully engulfed in flames and exiting the rear and the roof of the building and spread to the attic area, where crews were able to stop the spread of the fire. Most of the damage was contained to the kitchen area.)

Firefighters were on the scene for the next hour or so making sure the hot spots were put out. Will said they were attacking the attic area most of the night and it was too early to determine the cause of the fire.  He said later that the fire apparently began with a hot water heater exhaust behind a cabinet that burned through the wood floor. Will said water coming out of the heater was scalding hot even after they tried to cool it down with a hose. An investigator with the State Fire Marshal’s Office was scheduled to examine the scene sometime today (Wednesday).

The owner of the steakhouse, Barb Mitchell, was understandably upset, according to the Chief.

The restaurant had been scheduled to open later in the day.

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Firefighters from Anita and Wiota were called to the scene of a reported fire in Wiota Tuesday night. The Cass County Communications Center said a large fire was reported on the back side of the Wiota Steakhouse at 302 Center Street, at around 11:20-p.m.  A grass unit from the Cumberland Fire Department was also called to assist at the scene.

Additional details are currently not available.

PERU, Neb. (AP) — Authorities in southeast Nebraska are trying to identify the body of a man found on the bank of the Missouri River. The Nemaha County Sheriff’s Office says people fishing by the river north of Peru found the body Sunday. It’s unclear how long the body was in the water.

Sheriff Brent Lottman says deputies have contacted authorities in surrounding communities along Nebraska and Iowa to help identify the man. He declined to release additional information. The Lincoln Journal Star reports an autopsy has been ordered on the body, which was found two miles north of the Peru boat dock.