A northeast Iowa man, originally arrested on 10 charges related to sexual abuse of Boy Scouts, is seeking a change of venue for his trial, slated to start next month. And, the prosecution agrees.
74-year-old James Hughes of Cresco was arrested in June 2023 on four counts of third-degree sexual abuse, all Class C felonies; and six counts of lascivious conduct with a minor, all serious misdemeanors.
A Cresco Police report filed in March 2021 accused Hughes of sexually abusing a juvenile Boy Scout troop member over several years. Further investigation alleges he also sexually abused four other juvenile boys in his troop, as early as 2008 and as late as 2018.
On December 7th, two felony counts of sexual abuse and two counts of lascivious conduct were dismissed after it was learned that alleged “Victim #1” would be unable to testify against Hughes due to health concerns.
Hughes has pleaded not guilty and his trial date is currently scheduled to begin January 8th in Howard County District Court. However, last week, Hughes filed for a change of venue for his trial, citing pretrial publicity would make a trial in Howard County unfair.
On Monday (12.16), the state filed a motion concurring that a fair and impartial jury cannot reasonably be selected in Howard County, due largely to the public profile of Hughes and his involvement in scouting and the community over a substantial number of years.
The state has requested that, if the trial is moved, it should be placed in a county with demographics similar to Howard County while also considering ease of travel for witnesses. A hearing on the matter is scheduled for December 24th.
Hughes has claimed he cannot be tried for the alleged crimes because they were not reported in a timely fashion.
