Calumet, Iowa — A Cherokee man has been arrested on felony charges related to sexual abuse of a child.
According to criminal complaints filed with the O’Brien County Clerk of Court’s Office by the O’Brien County Sheriff’s Office, 58-year-old Gerald Morton of Cherokee is accused of ongoing sexual abuse of a child, with some instances going back over 20 years, and the oldest of which allegedly occurred in 2002. He was arrested on Tuesday.
Morton was charged with continuous sexual abuse of a child, a class B felony; six counts of third-degree sexual abuse; and one count of incest. The continuous sexual abuse charge is a class B felony and all the other charges are class C felonies. If convicted, Morton could face up to 25 years in prison on the class B felony alone, and ten years on each of the class C felony counts.
He faces a preliminary hearing on the charges on February 21st.
At last report, he remained in the O’Brien County Jail in Primghar in lieu of bond.
