EAGLE GROVE — The Wright County Attorney’s Office has announced a new charge filed against a Wright County police officer charged with sending obscene material to a minor.
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 originally scheduled for Thursday, but court records had shown his attorney on Monday filed a notice with the court that he intended to waive his initial appearance and preliminary hearing as well as plead not guilty to the charge.
Assistant Wright County Attorney Joseph Corrow issued a press release on Thursday, saying that on further review of investigatory materials, they’ve now charged Richardson with sexual exploitation of a minor, a Class D felony. Trial information says that he allegedly possessed materials depicting the minor engaging in a prohibited act or simulation thereof.
Richarson’s arraignment hearing on the charges is now set for February 14th.
