Sioux City, Iowa — A former Sioux Center Christian School Teacher will not be released on bond, and will stay in federal custody until his federal trial. That’s the ruling of a federal judge.
Court records indicate 36-year-old Curtis Van Dam was already facing state charges of over 140 counts of various sex crimes with students when he was arrested last week on new, federal charges. Authorities say the new charges are from a grand jury, and are for the same allegations as the charges that were filed in state court, and involve the alleged crimes of Sexual Exploitation of a Child and Possession of Child Pornography.
This week, U.S. Magistrate Judge Kelly Mahoney ordered Van Dam to remain in federal custody until trial. Her order said that she took the action because there is probable cause to believe that Van Dam committed an offense involving a minor under 18, and the court concluded that “no condition or combination of conditions of release will reasonably assure the safety of any other person and the community.”
Court records say that Van Dam’s attorney did present evidence against the detention order, but after considering the presumption and other factors, Judge Mahoney felt the detention was warranted. She says the weight of evidence against Van Dam is strong.
Van Dam’s federal trial at this point is set to begin on April 2nd. A status conference is scheduled for March 2nd.
Meanwhile, Van Dam’s state case is also still active. A pretrial conference is scheduled for this coming Monday, February 5th. That trial is scheduled at this point for March 6th.
