OTTUMWA —
Police have arrested a man on charges of sexual abuse and incest.
Seth Adam Babcock, 23, of Ottumwa, was taken into custody Tuesday afternoon.
He faces two counts of sex abuse in the third degree (Class “C” felonies), two counts of incest (Class “D” felonies) and one count of dissemination and exhibition of obscenity to minors (a serious misdemeanor).
According to Ottumwa Police Lt. Tom McAndrew, the charges are a result of an investigation that was initiated by the Ottumwa Police Department in September of 2011.
Paperwork filed with the Eighth Judicial Court indicates a complaint on behalf of an alleged victim, a minor who said Babcock showed them a pornographic movie, claiming that Babcock said he wanted to do what they were watching on TV. The minor further alleges that Babcock forced them to engage in sex acts.
The information from that initial investigation was used to obtain a search warrant from a judge.
Officials at an area school district had contacted Iowa Department of Human Services because they were suspicious that a young person had suffered abuse. DHS then contacted the Ottumwa Police Department.
Police and DHS interviewed the minor, as did the Iowa Child Protection Center.
Trained investigators executed a search warrant at the suspect’s home. An inventory by police obtained by the Courier listed items removed from the residence.
Items did include condoms, several pornographic DVDs and bed sheets that, according to a request for a search warrant, officers felt could be tested for DNA.
Hearing information had not yet been entered in the court schedule. Babcock is currently in the Wapello County Jail on a $31,000 bond.
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