Seeking Justice: Legal loophole frees admitted sex offender

As the family of a 10-year-old victim realized 16 sexual abuse charges were being dismissed in a Jasper County courtroom last week, tears began rolling down their stunned faces. As disbelief turned to anger, an emotional fight for justice began.

Despite his own admissions to the crimes, 42-year-old Shawn D. Cooper was deemed incompetent to stand trial and walked out of the Jasper County Courthouse a free man. Two independent medical evaluations showed Cooper lacked the required competency to stand trial in the State of Iowa, and he was released Jan. 29. Although Cooper's sister, Tanya Revell, reported him to police, she now says Cooper is mentally unfit but harmless. His neighbors in Newton aren't buying it and want to see Cooper locked up.

LIVING IN NEWTON

Jasper County Attorney Mike Jacobsen said he’s exploring a civil commitment process in the case against Cooper. Under Iowa Code Chapter 229A, Commitment of Sexually Violent Predators, Jacobsen said the law provides a provision for sexually violent offenders who present a danger to the public to be involuntarily committed in an attempt to rehabilitate those individuals. In an email to Newton Daily News, Jacobsen said he’s been in contact with the state’s assistant attorney general regarding the process.

Jacobsen said he’s not sure how long the process will take, or if it’s even applicable to Cooper, due to the nature of his mental incompetency. In adoption since 1999, the law was designed to hold sexually violent predators in prison past their scheduled release date, it isn’t intended to address a case like Cooper’s.

Local legislators have also pledged to address the issue at the Statehouse this session after hearing numerous complaints about the case from residents.

Meanwhile, Cooper is living west of downtown Newton, where the second-degree sexual abuse took place. The residence is owned by Dustin Cooper, according to the Jasper County Assessor’s website. In addition to Shawn Cooper, his sister Tanya Revell, Billy Currier and three minor children reside in the home, according to neighbors.

FAMILY TIES

Just as Shawn Cooper’s charges have been dismissed, his brother Dustin Cooper is facing his own set of sexual abuse charges.

Dustin Cooper is scheduled to be sentenced Monday on five counts of second-degree sexual abuse after pleading guilty to the charges in November. He faces a maximum of 25 years in prison for the crimes.

As Dustin Cooper awaits his fate, his family is left to pick up the pieces.

After leaving the Newton apartment where he was living semi-independently, Shawn Cooper is back living with his sister, who says concerns about her brother are overblown. According to Tanya Revell, Shawn Cooper is not a fully-functioning 42-year-old. Without assistance her brother is unable to care for himself, Revell said.

“He’s not running around town like everyone thinks,” she said. “He doesn’t have a driver’s license, he can’t read and he can’t drive, he has no money.”

Despite Revell’s claims, she reported Shawn Cooper to the state’s department of human services last year. On March 26, Revell called the Newton Police Department to report her brother’s behavior. In an interview with police officers last summer, Shawn Cooper admitted to performing sex acts on the victim 16 different times.

Revell said she is attempting to find placement for him in a managed and controlled facility. She said he previously received assistance from Progress Industries, an organization that works with mentally and physically disabled individuals. Revell said she’s hoping to find a place where her brother can get the support and care he needs.

“He’s living here and he’s supervised, and we are looking into Progress Industries or placement with Optimae … or where beds will be open,” she said.

She’s not concerned about her brother’s safety or the safety of others. Revell also thinks it’s unfair for people to say her brother “knew what he was doing.” She said she wouldn’t have any concerns about leaving Shawn Cooper alone in a room with children.

“He has the mind of a 10-year-old, even though when you look at him he looks 42 … (some) children understand right from wrong — that doesn’t mean they don’t know why that is wrong ... they can’t understand the moral of it,” Revell said.

TROUBLE AT HOME

While Revell claims her brother doesn’t represent a danger to the community, neighbors disagree. Jeremy and Courtney Claussen live next door to the Cooper residence and have a shared driveway. After learning Cooper had been released, Courtney Claussen said she’s no longer comfortable allowing her children to play outside unless she can be outside with them as well.

“I look out the window at least 10 times a day because I’ve been looking for him, waiting,” Claussen said.

A mother of three, Claussen is a stay-at-home mom who runs a daycare out of her home. Not only is she worried about safety, but she’s also concerned it will affect her business as well. Claussen said she was disappointed to find out Cooper had been released, with so many young children living in their neighborhood, she believes he’s a risk. A busy school bus stop is at the end of the block, with buses dropping off more than a dozen kids every day. Cooper’s dismissal means he wasn’t required to register as a convicted sex offender, which means there are no restrictions on where he can reside.

In an effort to keep tabs on Cooper’s whereabouts, Claussen said she and other neighbors have used social media to stay abreast of new developments in the case. With Cooper back on the streets, she said she’s considering driving her children to and from school every day so they don’t have to walk to the bus stop. She refused to allow her sons to shovel the driveway, and said she doesn’t plan to use the basketball hoop in their driveway unless she can be outside with her children at all times.

“When we found out that (Cooper) got out, we told everyone we knew (the story), tagged everyone we knew to make sure everyone knew he got out,” Claussen said. “I don’t even know if I would let (my kids) in the backyard to play. I mean kids are kids. They can leave the yard because a ball went over the fence. They don’t think anything of it.”

Claussen said she and her husband aren’t concerned about Revell and Billy Currier, but now that they know Shawn Cooper is living with the family, they plan to take extra precautions to make sure their children are safe.

While she’s never spoken to Shawn Cooper, Claussen said she’d spoken to Dustin Cooper on multiple occasions over concerns about parking in the yard and a dog that had been left tied up the yard. Claussen said she doesn’t understand how someone can admit to a crime, yet not have the competency to stand trial.

Even though Shawn Cooper has been judged not competent enough to stand trial for his actions Claussen said she feels like lawmakers haven’t done enough to make sure residents are safe.

“It is one thing to not lock him in jail, which I think he needs to be in jail, but it is another to not even consider placing him on the offender’s list. I understand they can’t because they didn’t charge him with anything, but I think that is what is frustrating for everybody,” Claussen said. “Obviously, everybody wants him behind bars or at least in a mental hospital or an institute if he is mentally the way the state says he is.”

Most of the neighbors in Cooper’s neighborhood have had very little interaction with the family, but few of those interactions have been good.

Scott Chisholm lives across the street from the Cooper household. On Thursday afternoon as he was shoveling snow from his driveway, he called the allegations “heartbreaking.” Both of Chisholm’s daughters are older, but he said he’s glad he lives on the other side of the street from the Cooper residence. While he said he isn’t concerned for the safety of his family, he’s worried about the large number of children that live in the neighborhood.

“I am not worried myself for my family, but I would worry for these kids down the street,” Chisholm said.

Neighbors Lisa Gregory and Tanna Reynolds said they’ve already talked to their children about how to protect themselves from child molesters. Reynolds said she explained to both of her children, ages 9 and 15, what a pedophile was, and what they needed to do to stay safe. Gregory said she’s baffled why the court system would allow Cooper to remain free after he admitted to his crimes. In addition to networking with other neighbors, Gregory said she wants to start a petition to get Cooper off the streets.

“Something like this has to be taken care of,” Gregory said. “This person admitted he did it. He obviously knew what he did.”

When Jennifer Foster moved to Newton from Des Moines last summer she was hoping she’d found a safer neighborhood than her former home on the south side of Des Moines, where a murder occurred near her apartment building last year. Foster was shocked to learn an admitted sex offender was living just a few doors down from her home.

Both of Foster’s two children take the bus to school every day, their route taking them past the Cooper household. After learning of Cooper’s crimes Foster said she’s concerned for her children’s safety, and said she no longer feels comfortable letting her children walk through the neighborhood alone.

“It is supposed to be a safe neighborhood, we were told, and it is not.”

With Cooper on the loose, Foster said she’s planning on driving her kids to and from school every day to make sure they’re safe. She’s worried they’ll be unable to protect themselves from danger.

“(Kids) can’t defend themselves against an adult. They just can’t. They can scream and holler, but some people turn the other way like they are crying wolf.”

FIGHTING FOR JUSTICE

Since the sentencing hearing, the victim’s family in Monroe has been working to bring justice to the victim by collaborating with local legislators and raising awareness.

“Initially I thought this was going to be a slam dunk,” Nate Bradbury, an uncle of the victim said. “I thought this guy is going to either be committed or be put in prison or jail — it was just total utter disbelief.”

It wasn’t long after the hearing that Bradbury felt compelled to write an email of questions and concerns, and he sent it off to local legislators. He said he didn’t expect such a quick and detailed response but that’s what he received from Rep. Wes Breckenridge, D-Newton and Sen. Chaz Allen, D-Newton. Both lawmakers said they’re concerned about the issue, and they’ve heard numerous complaints from residents.

On Wednesday, Breckenridge said there is a definite void in legislation “where someone dropped the ball.”

“We need to make sure we can protect and ensure the safety of citizens,” he said.

Breckenridge, a former lieutenant with the Newton Police Department, said he and Jacobsen have already been looking at three different chapters under Iowa Code Chapter 229A that could be added and drafted as legislation. Closing those legal loopholes is something Breckenridge pledged to make a priority during the ongoing legislative session.

“I will hopefully be meeting with the attorney general to research those chapters,” he said. “We want to take another look at this case and prevent this from happening in future cases.”

Allen also confirmed with Bradbury he would share the information of the case with the judicial committee at the statehouse.

“I have been receiving a lot of messages of concerns about this case,” Allen said. “I think there is a proper pathway for this person whether that is being committed or getting help, and we need to figure out what the options could be.”

State lawmakers aren’t the only ones who’ve reached out to Bradbury, who said he has also has heard from victims of sexual assault who said they appreciated him standing up and putting something into action.

“We didn’t think that was going to happen to our family to start with,” Bradbury said. “Then someone walks out free. If this can happen to us, how many other people out there will experience this?”

When the mother of the victim left the courtroom Jan. 22, the outcome really hadn’t settled in yet. She didn’t know how she was going to go home and tell her daughter that the man who had harmed her had walked free.

The mother of the victim said she was aware of some competency issues Shawn Cooper had, but she didn’t believe it would be significant enough that his charges would be dropped.

“I really don’t know what to say — how could this happen?” she said. “I expected him to be institutionalized before he would be able to get out and walk the streets.”

Because Shawn Cooper is not a registered sex offender and has not been convicted of any crime, Newton Police Chief Rob Burdess said the NPD has no role to play in the case.

“Right now he’s just a normal everyday citizen,” Burdess said. “There’s nothing we can do ... it’s definitely an unusual case.”

Bradbury, however, does not believe Cooper should be free to live where he chooses without having to register as a sex offender. Had Shawn Cooper been convicted, the state would have required him to register as a sex offender and would have prevented him moving within 2,000 feet of a child care facility or school. As a registered sex offender, Cooper would have been unable to move in with his sister on Newton’s northwest side.

“It’s definitely appalling,” Bradbury said. “In my opinion that’s scary that he can be out there and possibly have more victims.”

In the email Bradbury wrote to legislators he stated that a Progress Industries worker informed him that prior to his charges, Shawn Cooper lived by himself in his own apartment. He cooked, cleaned and took care of himself.

“The only help he needed to survive and live physically was help paying his bills, and taking him to the grocery story,” the statement said. “A Progress Industries worker told us that is all the care he has received in the past for his “mental incompetence” … so he can cook, clean, etc., but he cannot face the penalties for the horrible acts he has done?” Bradbury asked.

This was the underlying motivation in creating awareness and making it known that this happens in courtrooms across the state.

“I hope our community continues to put pressure on our elected officials to seek justice and resolve these loopholes,” Bradbury said. “Watch your children and believe what they say, if they bring a concern or an issue to you that’s suspicious be vigilant because we have people like this walking our streets in Newton.”

Despite the heartbreaking case, Bradbury said his now 12-year-old niece is why he is fighting for justice. He said he recently talked with his niece following the sentencing hearing

“She told me ‘Thank you, uncle Nate, for trying to help,’” Bradbury said. “That was touching and added even more motivation behind what I am doing.”

—Reporter Anthony Victor Reyes contributed to this article.

Contact David Dolmage
or Kayla Singletary at 641-792-3121 or newsroom@newtondailynews.com