Kalona man charged with child exploitation

KALONA — A 34-year-old from Kalona charged with child exploitation had his case moved from county court to a federal level last week, according to publicly available records.

Washington County court records say authorities there arrested Alexander Dehogues in late May on charges of child exploitation, claiming the man used hidden cameras to take nude and partially nude images of two unidentified minors between January of 2021 and August of 2023. Police said Dehogues produced the images without the subjects’ knowledge, and that he also possessed other visual media with sexual depictions of a minor.

The county case was scheduled for a jury trial Sept. 23, but was dismissed Sept. 11 to make way for federal prosecutors pressing similar charges, according to state court records. Dehogues entered a plea of not guilty in June for the county case, but has not yet entered a plea in federal proceedings. A federal arraignment hearing is scheduled for Sept. 17 in Davenport.

Federal prosecutors offered a slightly different account of Dehogues’ alleged crimes, giving a date range between Oct. 22, 2022 and March 24, 2023. Federal court records also said Dehogues captured sexual content of children under 12 years old, and suggested he coerced or enticed a minor to perform sexual acts while recording. In contrast, county prosecutors appeared to claim the victims were unaware of any cameras, and suggested Dehogues may have “permitted” the minors to perform sex acts on camera, rather than asking them to do so.

Federal records also specified Dehogues possessed “digital files” with sexual depictions of children, but did not mention hidden cameras.

Federal laws cited by prosecutors suggest Dehogues could face prison time for at least 15 years if convicted of sexually exploiting a child, and at least five years if convicted of possessing files that sexually depict minors.

Comments: Kalen.McCain@southeastiowaunion.com