A Central Iowa man was arrested late Wednesday afternoon, in Afton, for allegedly exposing himself to children. Afton Police Chief John Coulter reports 51-year old Walter Scott Sutton, of New Virginia, was charged with two counts of Indecent Exposure and one count of Possession of Drug Paraphernalia. 

Sutton was arrested after authorities received reports that the man was in the Afton Park allegedly pleasuring himself in front of children ranging in ages 4 to 13. The incident was witnessed by at least one adult.

Sutton was being held in the Union County Jail while awaiting an initial appearance before the magistrate. 

Red Oak Police, investigating an incident at the Red Oak Public Library Wednesday afternoon, arrested 22-year old Cody Dean Johnson, of Red Oak, for Breach of Peace. As officers were in the library, Johnson walked by and allegedly began using profane and abusive language toward a person the officers were speaking with.  The incident happened at around 2:30-p.m.

Johnson was taken into custody and brought to the Montgomery County Jail, where he was being held on $300 bond.

Here is the latest Iowa news from The Associated Press

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Authorities have determined the death of a veteran found dead in a Des Moines park was a suicide. Polk County Medical Examiner Doctor Gregory Schmunk told the Register yesterday the death of 41-year-old Richard Miles has been ruled a suicide. He was found frozen February 20th at Water Works Park.

MASON CITY, Iowa (AP) — One of the three dogs that knocked down and bit a woman in northern Iowa has been shot and killed. Cerro Gordo County Sheriff Kevin Pals says a person whose name has not yet been released shot the dog after it went after the woman and two other people several times on Monday. The dog’s carcass is being tested for rabies. The Mason City Globe Gazette says the two other dogs are under 10 days’ quarantine.

FREMONT, Iowa (AP) — Authorities say an Oskaloosa man has died in a single-vehicle crash in southeastern Iowa. The Ottumwa Courier reports 23-year-old Andrew Scholtus was killed Tuesday when his truck went off Whitwell Avenue in Fremont and hit a bridge guardrail.

NASHUA, N.H. (AP) — Senator Rand Paul of Kentucky is dodging a key question in the abortion debate: What exceptions should be made if the procedure were to be banned? In an Associated Press interview this week, the newly declared Republican presidential contender wouldn’t say where, in his view, a pregnant woman’s rights begin and those of the fetus end.

WASHINGTON – Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley of Iowa announced Wednesday, that the committee will hold a hearing on the nation’s
asset forfeiture laws. The hearing will take place on Wednesday, April 15th, at 10 a.m. (ET) in room 226 of the Dirksen Senate Office Building. The hearing will also be streamed live on the committee’s website,www.judiciary.senate.gov.

Grassley says supports the use of asset forfeiture to seize money from criminal organizations and return it to victims, but he has been concerned that the asset forfeiture program has become too much of a money-making business for the government. He said the rule of law ought to be about protecting innocent people, not padding the coffers of the federal treasury. New guidance from the Justice Department has helped, but Grassley has cautioned that loopholes have undermined efforts to improve the program’s application and legislation is still necessary.

Grassley said that the hearing will focus on law enforcement’s appropriate use of asset forfeiture to seize property associated with criminal activity and legislative reforms to that process to prevent abuses and protect the rights of innocent citizens and small business owners.

Grassley’s office says the Senator has been working on legislation that will protect innocent people from being caught up in the dragnet of asset forfeiture. The bill will enhance procedural protections for individuals whose property is seized, reduce incentives for law enforcement’s excessive employment of civil asset forfeiture, and codify the IRS’ policies that prevent use of civil asset forfeiture in structuring cases where there is no other underlying crime.

The Des Moines Register and the Washington Post have highlighted abuses of the asset forfeiture program, including the case of Iowan Carol Hinders. Hinders was a small business owner who was caught in the IRS’s asset forfeiture web without any clear evidence of an underlying crime.