Former Eagle Grove police officer pleads not guilty to sending obscene material to minor

EAGLE GROVE — A former Wright County police officer charged with sending obscene material to a minor has pleaded not guilty.

The Iowa Division of Criminal Investigation started an investigation on December 23rd after the Eagle Grove Police Department requested assistance to conduct an investigation of a complaint against 27-year-old Colt Richardson, who at the time was a police officer with the department.

A criminal complaint filed in Wright County District Court states that on or about December 6th, Richardson allegedly used the social media platform Snapchat to send explicit images to a person under the age of 18. The complaint says the first transmission happened while Richardson was on duty while a second transmission took place while he was off duty in a private setting.

Richardson was arrested on January 13th on a charge of dissemination and exhibition of obscene material to minors and was terminated from his employment with the police department.

His preliminary hearing was scheduled for today, but court records show his attorney on Monday filed a waiver of his initial appearance and preliminary hearing as well as his not guilty plea to the charge.

A trial date was not immediately set.