The Iowa Court of Appeals has overturned some charges in a case involving a former Clarksville police officer.
In 2023, Michael Tobin, Junior was sentenced to 15 years in prison for allegedly exchanging nude photos with a 14-year-old girl he met while investigating a sex offender.
Prosecutors say Tobin started a relationship with the 14-year-old girl after investigating her case of online sexual exploitation. They say he showed her explicit photos and videos, and had sex with her at the police station.
The minor reported the relationship in March of 2022 and Tobin was fired by the city of Clarksville. He was arrested in September of 2022.
A jury convicted Tobin of two felony counts of soliciting sexually explicit photos of minor, one felony count of promoting a sexually explicit video of a minor, and eight aggravated misdemeanors for possessing explicit images of minors. He was sentenced to not more than 15 years in prison. He appealed saying that some of the images were a part of his official duties.
The Court of Appeals ruled that Tobin was not conducting his official duties when he showed sexually explicit images to the girl, but the evidence was insufficient to prove he wrongly possessed six images and they vacated those convictions. Tobin is to be resentenced based on the five remaining counts.
Some information courtesy of Radio Iowa
