Background: Lake Wapello State Park in Iowa (Google Maps). Left to right: Jennifer Nelson, Danise Nelson, Jerry Nelson (Polk County Sheriff’s Office).
Three Iowa residents are facing charges after allegedly hanging a noose from a tree, forcing teenagers to pose with the ropes around their necks, and then taking pictures of the alleged incident.
Jennifer Nelson, 38, Danise Nelson, 68, and Jerry Nelson, 70, are facing felony and misdemeanor charges in Davis County, according to online court records. The alleged incident happened in August near a cabin at Lake Wapello State Park in southern Iowa, the Des Moines Register reported. Polk County Sheriff’s Office records show that they were arrested on Sept. 6.
An Iowa Department of Natural Resources park ranger said that the three tied a noose and hung it from a tree, the report said, citing a criminal complaint.
“The rope started at the hands of Jerry Nelson, then was hitched around the trunk of the tree, then hung over a branch of the tree,” the criminal complaint said, according to the news report.
The three adults then reportedly told two children to bring a chair from outside the cabin and place it underneath the tied noose.
According to the criminal complaint, the children were told to stand on the chair while the noose was put around their neck.
The children were then photographed, the criminal complaint said.
The defendants each face three felony charges, including conspiracy to commit a non-forcible felony, and aggravated misdemeanor charges of harassment, child endangerment, and assault with intent to inflict serious injury, court records show.
According to the Des Moines Register, the complaints didn’t explain why the pictures were taken or what the defendants’ intents were. One of the children reportedly has Asperger’s syndrome.
“[H]e stated he wasn’t comfortable doing the act, but did so to keep the peace,” the complaint reportedly said.
All three defendants reportedly live at the same address in Des Moines. They were arrested and released from the Polk County Jail after each of them posted a $10,000 bail, court records show.
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