HEDRICK, Iowa – A four-year investigation spanning two counties by the Iowa Division of Criminal Investigation (DCI) and Iowa State Patrol reached a turning point Friday with the arrest of a suspect on multiple counts of sexual abuse, including the alleged abuse of a 2-year-old child.
Matthew Robert Reynolds, 31, of 404 N. Main St., Hedrick, was charged with one count of second-degree sexual abuse and 14 counts of third-degree sexual abuse in Keokuk County District Court and five counts of third-degree sexual abuse in Jefferson County District Court.
According to a DCI statement issued Monday, the investigation, which began in 2018, is ongoing.
Reynolds is held in the Keokuk County Jail in Sigourney on a $40,000 cash-only bond. He is scheduled for a preliminary hearing Sept. 2 in Keokuk County District Court.
The DCI was also assisted in the investigation by the Iowa Department of Public Safety’s Criminalistics Laboratory, the Jefferson County Attorney’s office, the Keokuk County Attorney’s office and the office of the Iowa Attorney General.
*A criminal charge is merely an accusation, and the defendant is presumed innocent until and unless proven guilty.
