ORANGE CITY, IOWA – A Northern Iowa man has been sent to prison for molesting two children.
Thomas Kunstle, as Sioux County Attorney for Sioux County, Iowa announced that James “Jim” Stephan Hanno, 68, of Hospers, Iowa, was sentenced last week in O’Brien County District Court for the crime of Indecent Contact with a Child, an Aggravated Misdemeanor. Sioux County Attorney Thomas Kunstle prosecuted the case on behalf of the State of Iowa, in connection to charges occurring in Sioux County, but coordinating with the O’Brien County Attorney’s Office.
The criminal investigation began in January of 2022, after the Sioux County Sheriff’s Office was notified by Minnesota authorities that James Hanno was identified as a suspect in a sexual abuse investigation. Further investigation revealed Hanno was the suspect in a sexual abuse investigation in the Minnesota county of Cottonwood, and Iowa counties O’Brien and Sioux involving two minor victims.
On March 20, 2022, the O’Brien District Court accepted Hanno’s no-contest plea to Sexual Abuse in the Third Degree stemming from O’Brien County, and a guilty plea to Indecent Contact with a Child stemming from Sioux County. The Court sentenced Hanno to an indeterminate 10 year prison sentence for Sexual Abuse in the Third Degree, and an indeterminate 2 year prison sentence for Indecent Contact with a Child. The Court further ordered Hanno to register as a sex offender for life, and to a special lifetime parole sentence after release.
