An Ankeny chiropractor who molested as many as a dozen girls was sentenced to 20 years in the state penitentiary Wednesday for child sexual abuse and drug crimes.
Joshua Blake Hanisch, 41, of Ankeny, who had a medical office in Des Moines and a cabin near Perry, was first arrested April 17, 2020, and charged with four counts of second-degree sex abuse, two counts of assault with intent to commit sexual abuse, two counts of sexual exploitation of a minor, one count of purchase/possess depiction of minor in sex act and four counts of possession of a controlled substance.
Hanisch pleaded guilty Wednesday in Polk County District Court to one count of second-degree sexual abuse (10 years), one count of third-degree sexual abuse (10 years concurrent) and to controlled substance violation (10 years consecutive)
After accepting the plea agreement, Polk County District Court Judge Scott D. Rosenberg sentenced Hanisch to 10 years on each of the three charges, with the sexual abuse charges to run concurrently and the drug charge to run consecutively, for a total of 20 years’ imprisonment.
According to the original charges, Hanisch abused and assaulted six minor females, all under the age of 12, between May 1, 2016, and Sept. 5, 2018, by touching them inappropriately while giving the children rides in his golf cart.
The Ankeny Police Department opened an investigation of Hanisch after learning from the Iowa Department of Human Services that the chiropractor allegedly sexually abused three minor victims. Further investigation by law enforcement disclosed three more alleged victims of sex abuse.
Search warrants executed in 2020 also led to a charge of first-offense purchase/possess depiction of minor in sex act. According to court records, Hanisch admitted to using his cell phone in 2020 in order “to search the internet for pornography and then watched multiple video clips, believed by him to be children under the age of 15 years old engaged in prohibited sexual acts.”
Search warrants also disclosed a variety of cannabis-related items. A bag with “50 THC edibles” was found at Hanisch’s workplace at 4539 Douglas Ave. in Des Moines, and “multiple mason jars containing a green leafy substance” and “various containers of THC edibles” were located at his Ankeny residence.
A search of Hanisch’s cabin south of Perry on Jewell Place disclosed nearly 2.5 pounds of pot in “five mason jars, each containing a green leafy substance identified as marijuana,” according to court records.
Hanisch posted a $435,000 bond in April 2020 and was released from custody. He was remanded Wednesday into the custody of the Iowa Department of Corrections.
