Christopher King. Courtesy: Des Moines County Sheriff's Department
Burlington Police now say that the investigation into the case of an ex-Burlington City Councilman accused of sexually molesting young girls now includes “several dozen” victims in at least three states, stretching back at least 10 years.
Burlington Police Lt. Jeff Klein says that interviews with potential victims have been booked throughout the entire week, with more and more alleged victims coming forward each day–all of them telling just about the same story: that 40 year old Chris King either sexually molested or attempted to sexually molest them by luring them on social media and providing them with alcohol after meeting them in a professional capacity. Many of the victims were customers of King’s photography studio, Daisy Frames Photography in Downtown Burlington. Some victims say that King even attempted to give them money to have sex with him–if they refused, police say he would attempt to rape them.
King has so far only been charged with the molestation of four victims, but Klein says that several more charges are on the way as they interview victims stretching back to around 2005, shortly after he left the city council.
“[The new charges] are going to be along similar lines of what he’s already charged with,” Klein told KBUR, “How many [charges] and when? I wouldn’t have that information yet.”
King was arrested last week, the climax of an investigation that started in February when a group of parents went to police concerned that their daughters, customers of King’s photography studio, had been molested. Police say that those victims were contacted through social media following their initial sitting, and offered “discounts” on their photo sessions if they came to the studio to “assist” King. King would then, allegedly, provide the teenage girls with alcoholic beverages and drive to locations in rural Des Moines county, where according to police, he would expose his genitalia, fondle the victims and force them to engage in sexually oriented games.
He’s currently being held on $63,500 cash-only bond on two counts of 3rd degree sexual abuse, one count of assault with penetration of genitalia or the anus, dissemination of obscene material to minors, and indecent exposure. He’s allegedly admitted to the crimes.
