An Urbandale man was arrested on a Dallas County warrant Wednesday in connection with incidents in March in which he allegedly kidnapped an Urbandale woman and concocted a tissue of falsehoods in order to misrepresent himself as a lawyer in a child-custody dispute with the Iowa Department of Health and Human Services.
Ryan Van Gorp, 38, of 5518 145th St., Urbandale, was charged with third-degree kidnapping, falsifying public documents, three counts of harassment of a public official or employee and three counts of impersonating a public official.
According to court records, the incident began March 6, when a worker with the Iowa Department of Health and Human Services (DHS) visited the Urbandale residence of Van Gorp, where he lived with an Urbandale woman and their minor child.
When the DHS worker arrived, Van Grop allegedly “kidnapped” the Urbandale woman and made her “hide in a closet and would not allow” the victim “to answer the door or answer her phone to speak with DHS,” according to court records.
Van Gorp allegedly repeated the ruse later that same day when the DHS worker returned. The victim “was eventually able to flee and house and speak with DHS,” and they were able “to negotiate with Van Gorp to effect the safe surrender and removal of their child,” according to court records.
On the following day, March 7, Van Gorp allegedly used “a blocked phone number” to make contact with an assistant attorney in the Dallas County Attorney’s office and with two DHS workers, and he “deceptively identified himself as an assistant to a Iowa Supreme Court Justice,” according to court records.
During the phone call, Van Gorp allegedly “accused/threatened” the attorney and social workers, falsely claimed they “perjured themselves” and “requested/attempted to gain restricted information related to” the child-removal order executed the day before at his residence.
On the following day, March 8, Van Gorp allegedly “used a fabricated email address” and impersonated “a child-advocacy agent working with a law firm” in order to distribute a document filled with false claims about the custody dispute, according to court records.
The document was emailed from Van Gorp’s residence and sent to the Iowa Attorney General’s office, members of the Iowa House of Representatives and Iowa Senate, the governor’s office, various DHS employees and the media, according to court records.
A warrant for Van Gorp’s arrest was ordered Wednesday in Dallas County District Court and served Wednesday. Van Gorp is held in the Dallas County Jail on an $18,000 cash-only bond. He is scheduled for a preliminary hearing May 12 in Dallas County District Court.
*A criminal charge is merely an accusation, the defendant is presumed innocent until and unless proven guilty.
