Court issues arrest warrant for convicted sex offender

FAIRFIELD — Jefferson County officials continue their search for Wayne Lee Wickenkamp, 36, of Brighton after he failed to appear for his jury trial Tuesday morning for felony charges of child sex abuse and violated his parole for an earlier conviction of sexual abuse.

“He is still a fugitive of justice and any help from the public would be greatly appreciated,” Jefferson County Attorney Chauncey Moulding said Wednesday morning. “Approach with Caution.”

Authorities urge anyone with knowledge of Wickenkamp's whereabouts to contact Jefferson County dispatch center at (641) 472-4146.

According to court documents, Wickenkamp failed to appear for his 8:30 a.m. jury trial, Tuesday, for two counts of Continuous Sexual Abuse of a Child.

The court issued a bench warrant for Wickenkamp’s arrest following his failure to appear less than an hour after the scheduled start time of the trial.

The court issued an additional warrant for the defendant’s arrest for a violation of a five-year suspended sentence issued in connection to a guilty plea of Enticing a Minor Under 16 for Sexual Purposes in November 2022.

“It is further ordered that Defendant be brought before the Court without unnecessary delay upon his/her arrest,” the order also stated.

In a Report of Violation submitted by Wickenkamp’s parole officer, she stated he not only violated his pretrial release, but also his suspended sentence when she received notice of tampering with his GPS monitoring device at 8:56 a.m. Tuesday.

The report further stated High-Risk Unit Officer Jason Jones located the GPS unit on the corner of Adams and Third Street in the roadway at 9:52 a.m. at which time Wickenkamp’s whereabouts remained unknown.

Documents related to the current charges of Continuous Sexual Abuse of A child contain claims that Wickenkamp repeatedly abused two girls between April 2018 to March 2022 when the children ranged from 2-10 years old.

Wickenkamp’s previous conviction came from charges made in April 2022 for Sexual Abuse in the Third Degree and Harboring a Runaway which resulted in the November 2022 suspended sentence which he recently violated.

The initial criminal complaints in the April 2022 case stated authorities found a 14-year-old female runaway hiding in a closet of Wickenkamp’s Fairfield residence.

According to the Order of Disposition for the April 2022 case, in addition to the five-year suspended sentence, Wickenkamp would be subject to GPS high-risk unit monitoring, incur a $1,025 fine with 15% surcharge, and register on the sex offender registry.

Comments: AnnaMarie.Ward@southeastiowaunion.com