Washington teen charged with sexual assault

WASHINGTON — Police say they arrested Washington 19-year-old Devon Knerr after he turned himself in late last month, facing charges of third degree sexual abuse.

Court documents in Knerr’s case claim that Knerr had nonconsensual sex with a 16-year-old girl in November of 2022, which went unreported until April of this year.

Knerr, however, claimed that the act was consensual and that the accuser was “upset with him because ‘he had ghosted her’ after the incident,” in an interview with police.

“The case was reviewed by the Washington County Attorney's office, and a decision was made to file the charge of Sexual Abuse in the 3rd Degree,” a criminal complaint in the case said.

The charges have led Washington Police to issue a search warrant for Knerr’s Facebook information, saying data from the platform’s instant messaging service likely contained “communications apologizing for his actions” after the alleged assault and that the information could offer other context.

“By determining the physical location associated with the logged IP addresses, investigators can understand the chronological and geographic context of the … crime under investigation,” read the search warrant application. “Account activity may provide relevant insight into the Facebook account owner’s state of mind as it relates to the offense.”

A records custodian at Meta, Facebook’s parent company, provided the information in mid-May, according to other legal records. A certificate issued by the company said the request included Knerr’s search results, IP address logs, messages, photos, videos, and other data.

The state has appointed an attorney to represent Knerr in the case. A preliminary hearing in the case is scheduled for Dec. 8 at the Washington County Courthouse.

Knerr was sentenced for an unrelated sexual abuse case in May involving two girls under the age of 18, also in Washington, in late December of 2021. A plea deal in that case led to fines, a spot on the sex offender registry and no-contact orders, but not a prison sentence for Knerr, who was 17 years old at the time, according to court records and the Iowa Sex Offender Registry website.

Comments: Kalen.McCain@southeastiowaunion.com