Sioux Center Man Sentenced to Prison For Exploitation of Minors

The coach of a boys’ basketball team who secretly made videos of boys on the team showering, was sentenced on September 12, 2018, to 15 years in federal prison.

Curtis Van Dam, age 36, from Sioux Center, Iowa, received the prison term after a June 11, 2018, guilty plea to one count of sexual exploitation of a child.

In a plea agreement, Van Dam admitted that between November of 2013 and October of 2017, in the Northern District of Iowa, he used minors under the age of 18 to engage in sexually explicit conduct for the purpose of producing visual depictions of such conduct, using cameras, cell phones, SD cards, and an Apple MacBook A1181 Laptop personal computer.

Van Dam was sentenced in Sioux City by United States District Court Judge Leonard T. Strand. Van Dam was sentenced to 15 years’ imprisonment. He must also serve a 7-year term of supervised release after the prison term. Van Dam was ordered to pay two special assessments of $100 and $5000.  There is no parole in the federal system.

United States Attorney Peter E. Deegan stated, “This case demonstrates our office’s continuing resolve to keep our children safe from sexual exploitation.  We commend the fine work of the Sioux Center Police Department in this matter, and reiterate our commitment to working with our state and local partners to fight child exploitation in our communities.”

Van Dam is being held in the United States Marshal’s custody until he can be transported to a federal prison.

The case was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Timothy T. Duax and investigated by the Sioux Center Police Department. 

Court file information at https://ecf.iand.uscourts.gov/cgi-bin/login.pl.  The case file number is 18-CR-04005.

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