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Owners of Ide Gymnastics charged with child endangerment
Charge stems from incident where sex offender was allegedly volunteering at the business
Southeast Iowa Union offers audio versions of articles using Instaread. Some words may be mispronounced.
FAIRFIELD – The two owners of Ide Gymnastics of rural Fairfield have been charged with child endangerment in relation to an individual who was permitted to volunteer at their gymnastics studio.
The Fairfield Police Department stated in a news release that Jeff Ide (age 66) and Jeanne Ide (age 65) of Brighton were both arrested on April 30 for allegedly letting a person they knew to be on the Sex Offender Registry volunteer at their business unsupervised while children were present.
The news release states that the investigation was sparked by an incident on April 14, when an off-duty officer of the Fairfield Police Department observed a registered sex offender outside Ide Gymnastics, located at 1598 Pleasant Plain Road, about 6 miles northeast of Fairfield. The officer was aware this individual must comply with employment restrictions prohibiting him from working or volunteering at any business primarily serving children.
“The officer observed the subject appearing to serve food and drinks to children,” the release states. “No staff members from Ide Gymnastics were observed supervising the area at the time.”
Neither the news release nor the police report named the sex offender, but a search of Iowa Courts Online revealed that the sex offender was Marcus Leon Canull, 50, of Fairfield. Canull was arrested on April 14 at Ide Gymnastics for failing to comply with the terms of the Sex Offender Registry.
According to the Iowa Sex Offender Registry, Canull has two out of state convictions, one for aggravated criminal sexual abuse in 1996 when he was 22 years old with a victim under 14 years of age, and another for child pornography in 2000. Information obtained from the Illinois Sex Offender Registry lists Canull as a sexual predator who was 25 at the time of one of his convictions where his victim was 16. He was convicted in McLean County, Illinois, which contains the city of Bloomington.
In the police report, the off-duty officer informed the Ides that the officer would follow up with them about the incident. Both Jeff and Jeanne were interviewed by Sgt. Tyler Anderson on April 24, and during that interview, the Ides told the investigator that they learned about the subject being someone who needed to register on the Sex Offender Registry sometime around January 2025, according to the police report.
Despite knowing that the subject was required to register on the Sex Offender Registry, the Ides allowed the subject to work/volunteer at their facility, which is primarily designed for the entertainment or education of minor children, the police report states.
“Furthermore, the defendant allowed the above mentioned subject to be in a place of authority over minor children without having another adult assuming custody/supervision of all children present,” stated the arrest report for both Jeff and Jeanne Ide.
In Jeanne’s arrest report, the arresting officer writes, “In the defendant’s interview, she says multiple times that she never let any children go outside to get food without herself being present.”
The arresting officer writes that neither defendant was outside to supervise the minor children for at least 13 minutes while the children were in the presence of the sex offender.
Doug Tindal of Tindal Law Office in Washington is representing both Jeff and Jeanne Ide, who have pleaded not guilty to the charge. When reached for comment Monday, Tindal stated that he was investigating the matter on behalf of his clients, and that he will “present a solid defense.”
Ide Gymnastics’ Facebook page addressed the incident on April 14. In a post from April 16, an administrator of the Facebook page wrote:
“We are reaching out to our gym parents regarding an incident that occurred Monday evening at our gym. We had an individual on the property under the premise of showing kindness and helping with a fundraiser. This individual was on the Iowa Sex Offender Registry, and we were unaware of the circumstances regarding this issue. We were made aware of this when the evening was winding down and on off duty officer recognized him. He then reported this individuals whereabouts to the Jefferson County Sheriffs office and this individual was promptly arrested. We would like to extend our sincere apologies to anyone offended by our lack of judgment. We should have done our due diligence and will in the future to avoid such circumstances. We would like to reassure our families that your children's safety is always our top priority and we would never willingly put them in a situation that was not safe. This individual has never helped the kids but was selling food that we provided. Going forward we have decided that in lining up with the new AAU standards which will apply next season, there will be a background check done for any individuals that will be helping with the kids in any capacity.
“We would like to further express our appreciation to the Jefferson County Sheriff's department for their swift reaction to this incident. We would also like to express our gratitude to our gym families and the community for their continued support over the many years we have been here. We look forward to our continued work with your children and want to be sure you know if you have any further questions or concerns you can always come to us.”
According to the business’s website, Jeff and Jeanne Ide founded Ide Gymnastics in 2009. They opened a gym in Fairfield in 2014, and in 2023 moved to their new facility northeast of town.
Call Andy Hallman at 641-575-0135 or email him at andy.hallman@southeastiowaunion.com
