Prosecutor drops sex abuse charges on former Marion man after he was found dead

CEDAR RAPIDS — A former Marion man charged with sexually abusing a child over a period of three years was found dead in his Missouri residence by authorities after he didn’t show up to his sentencing Wednesday.

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Assistant Linn County Attorney Ryan Decker, in a motion to dismiss the charges, said after Jason Lee Daniels, 53, failed to appear in court, the Camden County Sheriff’s Office was asked to conduct a welfare check at his residence, where he was found dead.

Decker asked the court to dismiss three charges of lascivious acts with a child — solicitation, and one count each of dominion/control of a firearm by domestic abuser and assault with intent to commit sexual abuse, which Daniels pleaded guilty to in August. He was originally charged three counts of second-degree sexual abuse.

Daniels repeatedly sexually assaulted a child between Jan. 1, 2018 and March 7, 2021 in Marion. The child told a forensic interviewer at the UnityPoint-St. Luke’s Child Protection Center in Hiawatha that Daniels had repeatedly sexually abused her since she was 5 years old.

The girl told investigators Daniels, who was grooming the child, would give her gifts if she didn’t resist him, the complaint stated.

Investigators obtained a search warrant and collected physical evidence at Daniels’ residence that corroborated the girl’s account, according to the complaint.

During the search, law enforcement also found three firearms that Daniels isn’t legally allowed to possess because he has a previous domestic abuse conviction in Polk County.

Daniels fled Iowa after police opened the investigation. He was arrested on a warrant June 2, 2021 in Port St. Lucie, Fla., after Marion police tracked him to the city of 200,000 on the east coast of Florida with the help of Port St. Lucie police and the U.S. Marshals Service.

Marion Police Lt. Phil Fort said two Marion investigators went to Port St. Lucie after learning Daniels was there. He was arrested and extradited back to Iowa later that month.

He faced up to 22 years in prison but planned to ask the court for a suspended sentence and probation.

Daniels’ trial was delayed 11 times, mostly at the request of his defense for various reasons. This case was one example of many sex abuse cases that have lingered in the system for more than two years. A prosecutor’s review of the cases found some — like Daniels — had been pending three or four years.

The number of sex abuse cases that have lingered in the Linn County court system for more than a year has decreased in recent months, thanks to efforts by the court to impose more pretrial conferences and firm trial dates.

Linn County Attorney Nick Maybanks and 6th Judicial District Chief Judge Lars Anderson started working on the backlog after Maybanks brought the issue to the court’s attention and the court imposed more case management conferences. The conferences hold all parties accountable for keeping cases moving forward toward resolution. During those conferences, the judges also have been setting firm trial dates to reduce further continuances.

In December, Maybanks said an early review of the 80 sex abuse cases that were open and remained unresolved from 2020 through April of 2025, showed they are trending in the right direction. Of the 80 cases, 43 have been resolved and 37 remain open.

He said his office would continue to monitor those, along with the court.

Trish Mehaffey covers state and federal courts for The Gazette

Comments: (319) 398-8318; trish.mehaffey@thegazette.com