Mayor in Small-Town Eastern Iowa Charged with Child Endangerment
Waukon, Iowa is situated in one of the more northeast parts of the state, and it's pretty small.
Located about an hour and forty-five minutes away from both Waterloo and Dubuque and holding just under 4,000 residents, the tiny Iowa community doesn't enter the state-wide headlines too much.
Unless events like what came out today reach the media.
According to KWWL, "The Mayor of Waukon, Pat Stone, has been arrested on two counts of child endangerment causing injury after an investigation into two incidents of possible child abuse."
Following a criminal complaint, the mayor was asked to bring in one of his children to the Waukon Police Department in March for a welfare check. During the check, officials found marks that were visible on the child's skin. The Veteran's Memorial Hospital in Waukon performed a Child Abuse evaluation following the finding of the marks.
Via the evaluation, it was determined that the child either had a physical or mental disability and the 42-year-old Stone had physically harmed the child.
A second circumstance took place in May of this year when Stone was accused of causing physical harm to another child with a mental or physical disorder. The child had marks indicating physical abuse on multiple parts of his or her body.
KWWL added that "Stone is a parent or has custody over both children involved in the incidents."
Following the investigations of these incidents, a warrant was issued for Stone's arrest -- it was executed on Friday, July 1.
Stone posted a $500 bond and was released following his arrest.
Stone took office in Waukon in January of 2018, when he defeated one-time multi-term Waukon Mayor Dwight Jones in a 2017 run-off election per the Waukon Standard. He overtook the position from mayor Duane DeWalle, who did not seek re-election.
The City of Waukon still lists Stone as the mayor of the town on its website, saying his next term ends in December of 2023.