TABOR, Iowa (AP) – Emergency crews are searching a private pond near Tabor, for a missing Nebraska man.  The Mills County sheriff’s office says a dive team was called out on Monday. The search continues today (Tuesday). The property owner called 911 after seeing a boat in the pond and the man’s vehicle nearby.  The missing man is from Papillion, Neb.

The Cass County Sheriff’s Office has been nominated to receive the 2012 Secretary of Defense “Employer Support Freedom Award.”

ESGR Award

The announcement was made today (Tuesday), by Employer Support of the Guard and Reserve (ESGR), a Department of Defense (DOD) agency. Officials say 56 Iowa Guard and Reserve members nominated their employers for the award. Nationwide, there were 3,236 nominations. The Freedom Award is the DOD’s highest recognition for employers supporting members of the Guard and Reserve. Up to 15 recipients will be announced this summer and honored at a ceremony in Washington, D.C. on September 20th. Also nominated for the award was The Micah House, in Council Bluffs.

Southwest Iowa’s Ringgold County was one of two Counties in the state to have recorded the lowest number of child abuse cases last year. Worth County, in northern Iowa also had a low number of cases. Both reported 38. Statewide, the number of Iowa children who were abused or neglected declined last year, reversing two years of increases. The Iowa Department of Human Services released its annual report on child abuse today (Tuesday) and spokesman Roger Munns says abuse cases were down nearly seven-percent (7%) from 2010. “We can’t make too much of this,” Munns says. “Obviously the numbers are going in the right direction, but there are a lot of factors involved and the numbers have waffled back and forth for the last decade or so.” The primary reason for the decline in child abuse cases, according to Munns, is the state’s improved economy.

“It’s pretty well known when families are under financial stress, there’s more stress in every area of their lives including their kids,” Munns says. “So when economic conditions improve, some of that stress is removed.” The number of children in Iowa who were subjected to either a “founded” abuse or a less serious “confirmed” abuse last year was 11,747. Around 79-percent of all abuses were cases of neglect. “Neglect can mean a lot of things. Many times it’s the caretaker or parents who’s capacities are compromised by drug or alcohol abuse,” Munns says. “But, there are other examples too. There are cases where mom or dad goes to the casino and leaves the kid in the car…somebody finds them and no harm is done, but the kid was placed in harm’s way.” Ten-percent of abuses were physical, while four-percent were sexual — similar to past years. Slightly more than half of all abused children, 51-percent, were age five or under. Munns says Iowa’s numbers continue to be consistent with national trends.

“We send out social workers to do assessments on abuse and two-thirds of the time there is a finding of ‘no finding.’ This is comparable to what we see nationally as well,” Munns says. Polk County, Iowa’s most heavily populated county, recorded the most child abuse cases in 2011 with 4,147. That was followed by Scott County (2,194), Linn County (2,016), Black Hawk County (1,613) and Woodbury County (1,244).

(Pat Curtis/Radio Iowa)

The Atlantic Police Department reports 54-year old Devin McDermott, of Atlantic, was arrested Monday. McDermott was booked into the Cass County Jail on a charge of Criminal Trespassing.

A former teacher with the Anita School District scheduled to appear in court Thursday, will answer to charges he sexually exploited a minor female. 65-year old William Glenn Foulkes, of Anita,  has a 1-p.m. appearance set to take place in Cass County District Court March 22^nd. 

William Glenn Foulkes

Foulkes, a former long-time Math teacher at the Anita High School, and Anita Elementary School, was arrested last Thursday (March 15^th), on a felony warrant for Sexual Exploitation by a School Employee, and 49-Aggravated Misdemeanor counts of Sexual Exploitation by a School Employee.

Foulkes served the Anita Community School District from 1969, until his resignation in November, 2010. A complaint filed with the Cass County Sheriff’s Office said “On several occasions between August 1st 2009, and Nov. 11, 2010, Foulkes engaged in sexual conduct with a minor female while teaching the student in a math program. During these tutoring sessions, Foulkes would at times, kiss the minor female student on the cheek, mouth and breasts. These incidents occurred at the Anita Elementary School, Foulkes’ residence, and Lake Anita State Park. The Sheriff says on every occasion, Foulkes was acting in a teaching capacity and was employed by the CAM School District.”

Foulkes posted a $50,000 bond following his arrest. As a condition of his release, he was ordered to have no contact with his alleged victim.