Former leader Iowa Boy Scouts convicted of sexual abuse of teenagers

A former Boy Scots of America band leader in the North -Iowa was sentenced to prison after pleading to an inadequate sexual contact with several victims over a decade.

James Hughes, 74 years ago, was charged in 2023 with sexual abuse or lascivious behavior compared to at least five minors between the ages of 13 and 16. It is assumed that the crimes took place from 2008 to 2018, when adolescents were members of the Boy Scout research band based in Hughes.

Judicial records show that Hughes in January entered a plea for two accusations of criminal sexual abuse and a lascivious conduct with a minor. This plea means that it maintains its innocence, but recognizes that the state has sufficient evidence to condemn it.

On Monday, he appeared for conviction before Judge Laura Parrish. Although she had the option to make a probation or to pronounce a delayed decision, she gave her imprisonment conditions for all three charges, to be communicated consecutively, for 10 years.

Hughes’s lawyer did not respond to a message requesting comments. In the judicial documents, Hughes asked for a suspended sentence, noting that his wife has serious health problems and more adult children with special needs.

The boy Scouts of America told in a statement at the time of Hughes’s arrest that they learned about the 2021 charges, they immediately prevented Hughes from participating in Boy Scouts and cooperated with the investigation. James Madison, CEO of the Winnebago Council of Boy Scouts of America, at that time, called the “disturbing and opposite accusations for all Boy Scouts of America.”

William Morris covers the courts for the Des Moines register. He can be contacted at [email protected] or 715-573-8166.